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He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, uncovered a surveillance network

https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/02/alpr-border-patrol-caltrans/
63•Element_•2h ago

Comments

xvxvx•2h ago
I assume every vehicle has been tracked for decades now. Remember when they simplified the design of license plates to make them easier for cameras to read? Why they feel the need to hide it though.
mytailorisrich•1h ago
In the UK: "A record for all vehicles passing by a camera is stored, including those for vehicles that are not known to be of interest at the time of the read. At present ANPR cameras nationally, submit on average around 60 million ANPR ‘read’ records to national ANPR systems daily." [1] (ANPR = Automatic Number Plate Recognition)

The data is kept for 12 months. So basically if you get onto the police radar for whatever reason they can roughly see how you used your car, and others they know you had access to, in the last 12 months (just saying, hum, hum).

[1] https://www.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rs/road-...

fzeroracer•2h ago
> “If you’re not doing anything illegal, why worry about it?” said long-time Jacumba resident Allen Stanks, 70.

Glad to see they dug out the most intelligent person to react to this information. It's also incredibly funny because the opposite should also apply to the government; if they're not doing anything illegal then they should have no need to hide their local surveillance network inside of abandoned trailers or other items. Just another reason to toss on the pile for dismantling CBP.

mikestew•1h ago
I loved Mr. Stanks follow up of "Privacy?! Why, you post your food on Facebook!". Because what I had for supper and where I've travelled during the day are on exactly the same level of privacy and concern. I have to assume that in the reporter's attempt to have a voice from the pro side and the con side, the best they could find was "if you're not doing anything illegal...".
01HNNWZ0MV43FF•1h ago
It's the privacy equivalent of "She was dressed skimpy in that part of town"
consp•1h ago
If people don't have anything to hide ask them how their marriage is and when the last time was they met their mistress, since they drive by there way too often for not having one nearby that location. That line of questioning usually shuts people up, replace response with financials/location/calls/etc when needed. (I know it's a reductio ad absurdum)
RankingMember•1h ago
I swear editors intentionally go with the dumbest takes to get rage engagement.
blahyawnblah•28m ago
I don't like it but I can kind of understand hiding it. People change their behavior if it's obvious.
floren•1h ago
Well, there's a reminder to donate to the EFF again!
ge96•1h ago
Let's Encrypt is goated
josefritzishere•1h ago
I've heard those trailers contain 15 lbs of copper wire each.
RajT88•1h ago
Scrap metal and sellable parts as well. Most likely a SIM card you can get a bunch of free internet out of too.
deepriverfish•45m ago
won't they able able to track you down if you start using the SIM though?
breakingcups•21m ago
It'd be interesting to see what endpoints they submit the data to...
pavel_lishin•1h ago
> “If you’re not doing anything illegal, why worry about it?” said long-time Jacumba resident Allen Stanks, 70.

I'm going to grind my teeth into a fine powder.

pinkmuffinere•1h ago
> “Everyone is talking about privacy, OK. Stop putting everything on Facebook. ‘Here’s a picture of my food.’ Who cares?” said Stanks.

Lol, this is just an old guy that wants to say something, _anything_ to the world

pavel_lishin•1h ago
An old guy who doesn't understand the difference between the state surveilling everything you do, and you volunteering some photographs to the world.
hollow-moe•51m ago
"You're in public space, you can't assume any kind of privacy here. Just don't go out."
RickJWagner•41m ago
That does not look like an abandoned trailer to me.

It’s good to see the Biden administration approved the permits. That should help keep discussions grounded a bit. The story shouldn’t be a political cudgel, since both sides have a hand in it.

actionfromafar•27m ago
A pre-emptive "both-sides"?
ting0•21m ago
What are the odds Palantir have something to do with this.
dmix•16m ago
In Canada all the police cars seem to have automated license plate readers these days.

This article explains there was a 2016 law where California won't share local police plate reader data with the feds, so they made a deal in 2024 where Caltrans (dept of transportation) will let Border Patrol pay for it themselves on roads near border crossing like San Diego County.

otikik•4m ago
Free trailer
kotaKat•2m ago
Free SIM card, free NUC running the ALPR DSP software, free Victron solar battery charger/power supply equipment…

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He saw an abandoned trailer. Then, uncovered a surveillance network

https://calmatters.org/justice/2026/02/alpr-border-patrol-caltrans/
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