My post was answered by Tillamook County Commissioner Vice-Chair Mary Faith Bell. I then replied to Commissioner Bell on this site, and she has yet to respond to my concerns from that post.
Since Commissioner Bell addressed the issue on this site, I am replying to her again on this site, and I thank BBQ for the opportunity, as the county’s deployment of A.I. in any form or fashion should be of grave concern for all county residents; whether those concerns are about out-of-control and needless government surveillance, or county administers using Grok or whatever A.I. service to replace human jobs, or any other concerns about the deployment of A.I. There should be absolute up-front transparency about the county’s plans to employ A.I., if such plans exist outside of the library system.
The pro-human anti-A.I. revolution has begun, and I think it right that Tillamook County join that pro-human revolution.
Santa Fe and Sedona have banned the A.I.-driven Flock cameras, and litigation regarding their use has begun is several states.
From article:
“Amid growing public debate over the role of surveillance tech in law enforcement, Flock issues have become a flashpoint. Its cameras, which can track vehicles using an easily-searchable database, have blanketed hundreds of cities across the country. The company presents its product as a simple license plate scanner, boasting “billions of monthly plate reads.” That phrasing alone makes clear that committing a crime isn’t the only way to end up in Flock’s tracking database. One Virginia man found he had been tracked 526 times in just four months after investigating the company. Meanwhile, Flock’s pitch to law enforcement boasts much more aggressive AI capabilities than simple plate scanning, including a “Vehicle Fingerprint” that can track cars even without a license plate by identifying everything from paint jobs to specific objects in a truck bed.”
Oregon’s biggest fraud, Senator Ron Wyden, has championed himself throughout his career as a staunch advocate of an individual’s right to privacy. He couldn’t be more dishonest. He has said nothing meaningful about the wide-spread privacy concerns about A.I. and certainly has not pushed back. Maybe because his donors want A.I., and he values them and their money more than he values the individual privacy concerns of the Oregonians he pretends to represent.
Of Flock cameras, which have been deployed all over Oregon, Wyden was taken to task by voters, and he finally weighed in against the cameras – but not until AFTER they were deployed all over the state. Eugene has stopped using the cameras, and I hope the rest of the state, and indeed the country, does the same. We 99% still wield a lot of power, and the wide-spread push-back against A.I. is evidence of that power.
Radio Cab in Portland, whom I contracted with as a driver for ten years, deployed A.I.-driven facial recognition cameras in all of their taxis over the summer. But these cameras do a lot more than facial recognition. Every time I honked the horn, the A.I. sent a video to my supervisor. Every time I picked up the phone, the A.I. would yell “PUT DOWN PHONE” then send a video to my supervisor. It packages passengers’ entering and exiting the cab, and all of those interactions are saved in a file for the supervisors to watch at any time. The entirety of the passengers rides are recorded and stored FOREVER, or as long as the wickedly anti-human A.I. stains the human experience, as the audio/video of the taxi rides is ostensibly stored in one of those giant Google-esque facilities that hog our electricity and cause the electric rates for us 99% to double, while the 1% who are using A.I. and our subsidy to digitally enslave us and degrade the human experience, get a screaming deal on electricity rates. I was also told that Radio Cab packaged all of my conversations with my passengers in text form and made those conversations available to the supervisors. Of utmost importance, I am told by tech folks smarter than me about this stuff, that there is no such thing as closed A.I., despite some companies’ claims otherwise. So ICE and whomever else that is savvy enough, can hack into any A.I. system.
If you know folks who are living here unlawfully and do not want to be deported, tell them not to ride in Radio Cabs! (It would be prudent for someone to look into TriMet’s use or potential use of A.I. on busses and trains.) If you value your privacy, including your private conversations with your driver, DO NOT USE RADIO CAB! Uber and Lyft, though born of the tech 1%, have yet to require their drivers employ A.I. cameras, and at this time are a preferable option to those who value and individuals right to privacy, as the original founders of Radio Cab, World War Two vets, surely understood.
Behavior modifications A.I. systems like these are what the Chinese Communist Party employs on its citizens, and they couldn’t be further from the ideals of those who fought the fascists and communists during World War Two, after which Radio Cab was born by American soldiers.
Commissioner Bell, you didn’t follow-up and answer any of my questions. These questions are of significant import to your constituents. Here they are again, with an add-on or two:
1. Did the idea to deploy A.I.-driven facial recognition cameras throughout the Tillamook County Library system come from within, or was the idea brought to the commissioners by a tech lobbyist/salesman?
2. How much is the contract worth?
3. Has the county come up with guidance with respect to its deployment of A.I. throughout county government?
4. Have the cameras been turned on yet?
5. Are you willing to cancel the contract and get the A.I. cameras that have already been installed removed?
6. You mentioned that the libraries have had ‘incidents’ that gave rise the deployment of these cameras. How many incidents have there been over the last year? Was law enforcement involved? The main branch is a stone’s throw from the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office and the Tillamook Police. OSP is also close by. Why the cameras when we have these three great law enforcement agencies (and more) in our county?
7. Commissioner Bell, you characterized the libraries as all-inclusive places that are safe spaces for all. Clearly that is not the case now that hackable A.I.-driven facial recognition cameras have been deployed. Please consider removing them and writing language in county code that prohibits the use of such A.I.-driven cameras in their entirety. Would closed circuit cameras, that are NOT connected to the internet and that are DELETED every two weeks, suffice?
And please use this site for a reply, if possible, as many concerned folks are awaiting your response.
Andy Norris
Wheeler
