Mobile Location Analytics (MLA) also known as Mobile Web Analytics (MWA)
MLA seems to be the dominant term however it broadcasts in the clear that it is all about "Location" whereas MWA just relates analytics to the web and is a stealth term more appropriate for disguising with a pseudonym what it is all about. MWA appears to be a much broader data collection system that connects many pieces of information gained from mobile devices through active as well as passive detection. MLA could and probably does the same beyond narrow focus on MAC addresses
There is an MLA code of conduct which is an industry sector self policing statement which is of course designed to provide the window dressing that an industry that seeks to gain privacy information can take care of keeping itself honest just like the banking industry or any other that establishes its own guidelines in preference to government laws.
MLA or MWA or whatever other letter combo they want to call a rose ---whatever. I am mainly, initially concerned mostly with MAC address being the physical identity of the device that is transmitting its physical identity. Then any amount of conceptual data information related to the physical identity can be associated to it for whatever purpose. The physical identity of the device correlates substantially with an individual person identity. That correlation becomes even greater with one or two other cross referencing physical data elements or conceptual data base elements.
The fundamental relationship of one unique person to one unique physical device broadcasting a MAC code is what I focus on because mandatory unique exclusive one to one relationships is the best foundation for any information system. The most definitive and unbreakable one to one exclusive mandatory human identity is the relationship between the physical being and its conceptual soul which has for all intents and purposes a celestial, eternal unique serial number that is that identifies that individual. It is known only to Saint Peter. On earth we are headed for the same earthly conceptual unique identity. Maybe we will call it our Saint Peter number. I am sure that the NSA has already assigned us one that is unknown to us. This is the key data base number to which all information about a person is related. Probably a hash of some of our most important numbers. Who knows? We don't. It is our NSA name and there should be law that requires the NSA to disclose it to us upon request.
A MAC address of a personal device is our "Internet of Things" name. Pretty much.
My MAC name? Hmmm.....well, it is available to anyone because my iPhone will shout it out for any wifi device to hear. I guess it will not give anyone the keys to my house or car but maybe to my secret files on the internet? There is no connection from it to passwords? Yes, of course there is. I am sure the MLA code of conduct says that anyone that subscribes to the code would not record my passwords or conversations, either voice or data.
My Mac address: (Wifi address) 54:EA:A8:DC:C5:B9 it is a permanent number assigned to my iphone. I don't think that I can change it. It is locked somewhere in the firmware but I think that there may be some way to spoof a MAC address.
I expect that some day spoofing a MAC address will be in the same category with counterfeiting dollar bills. It will be difficult to do and there will be severe criminal punishment for those that do it. The MAC address will therefore be unchangeable. The next step is to register the MAC address to the person that uses it on a personal device. Like a license plate on a car related to a drivers license number.
Is the internet a privilege like driving? Will it become regulated like that? A personal license to use the internet and a registered device to go somewhere on it?
Enough discussion of the MAC address. It is our primary code identified to us and the choke point of personal information association that opens the door to all sorts of information relationships about us in real time. It is a powerful number and an alias of our given name that identifies us even more than a given name does.
We walk around and broadcast this number to everyone and anyone that wants to hear it and connect it to us for any reason. Maybe just to record that 54:EA:A8:DC:C5:B9 was at a given place at a given time and going in a given direction (or just sitting there).
Interesting possibility: Just like the telephone keypad can be used to produce words representing numbers I would think that my 54:EA:A8:DC:C5:B9 could be translated to a grammatically correct word of some sort given a matrix by which to translate it to a meaningful word consisting of consonants and vowels. Maybe there is an app for that. If not, then it might be an amusing one to write. Then we could walk around and have the speaker on our device repeat it over and over so everyone around us would know who we are then look us up on the internet or their personal database. Or, have sex with our Avatar.
Now that is a very disturbing thought but the point here is that once we, individually and personally are connected via our broadcast number to all information about us then we are totally exposed to everyone and anyone that wants to do anything they wish with that information that is fast becoming our conceptual persona in cyberspace. An even more disturbing thought is that who that persona is in cycberspace could also be manipulated to make that cyber individual anything that the manipulator wanted it to be. When and if it comes to the point that our "true" identity is our cyber identity then the world will be a much different place that I do not like to even think about......but it is becoming increasingly like that place, I think as well as intuitively feel.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Big Data Aggregation
Big Data information aggregation is big business. Big data aggregation simply involves putting "silo data" together in a larger data base. The Intelligence sector discovered the need to do this after 9/11. An independent aggregator of open source information filled this vacuum and called it Silo.
Oracle tells how to do it here.
Previously I blogged about how an aggregator got the various players in the license plate recognition industry together under its umbrella to combine access to each of its silos.
Recently a dear friend of mine discovered that she had a negative job rating from a health provider that at the last moment prior to her employment by a health service provider excluded her from a contract job. The bad reference information was probably provided by a Data Aggregator. They get their information from a variety of sources and sell it to a client.
A negative comment coming from somewhere that is aggregated in Big Data is hard to fight. The aggregator is not responsible for it, they just aggregate it. The source may not be known and furthermore, the fact that it is in a personal report received from a data aggregator on a person that is employed on contract by a health service provider may be unknown to the employee.
Such a report is almost impossible to fight. It is a case of institutional information asymmetry that is simply unfair to the individual with no avenue of recourse.
The dear friend that was a victim in this situation is a dependable, conscience and skilled person that has suffered unjustly. Big data is big business from which we must have protection. Protection of the worker that most certainly will not be provided by the government nor granted generously by Big Business as fairness and justice would demand.
Big Data is something that must be controlled and regulated by government. This will not happen. Government does not seek to control its own in house big data. When called to account for its failure it merely outsources it it Big Data business and throws all responsibility to private enterprise that it will not regulate any more than it regulates the financial sector.
Big Data is also Big Money.
My dear friend is only an individual victim of Big Data, Big Money and the foot soldiers in real estate and employment that carry out the strategies and tactics of Big Data and Big Money and often add their own agenda to unjustly and unfairly treat others for their own advancement, satisfaction and benefit.
Unions used to defend individuals. Who champions the non-union employee? The contract employee? Any private individual when Big Data rules?
Oracle tells how to do it here.
Previously I blogged about how an aggregator got the various players in the license plate recognition industry together under its umbrella to combine access to each of its silos.
Recently a dear friend of mine discovered that she had a negative job rating from a health provider that at the last moment prior to her employment by a health service provider excluded her from a contract job. The bad reference information was probably provided by a Data Aggregator. They get their information from a variety of sources and sell it to a client.
A negative comment coming from somewhere that is aggregated in Big Data is hard to fight. The aggregator is not responsible for it, they just aggregate it. The source may not be known and furthermore, the fact that it is in a personal report received from a data aggregator on a person that is employed on contract by a health service provider may be unknown to the employee.
Such a report is almost impossible to fight. It is a case of institutional information asymmetry that is simply unfair to the individual with no avenue of recourse.
The dear friend that was a victim in this situation is a dependable, conscience and skilled person that has suffered unjustly. Big data is big business from which we must have protection. Protection of the worker that most certainly will not be provided by the government nor granted generously by Big Business as fairness and justice would demand.
Big Data is something that must be controlled and regulated by government. This will not happen. Government does not seek to control its own in house big data. When called to account for its failure it merely outsources it it Big Data business and throws all responsibility to private enterprise that it will not regulate any more than it regulates the financial sector.
Big Data is also Big Money.
My dear friend is only an individual victim of Big Data, Big Money and the foot soldiers in real estate and employment that carry out the strategies and tactics of Big Data and Big Money and often add their own agenda to unjustly and unfairly treat others for their own advancement, satisfaction and benefit.
Unions used to defend individuals. Who champions the non-union employee? The contract employee? Any private individual when Big Data rules?
Invasion of the Data Snatchers
Tom Engelhardt posted this at his blog TomDispatch.com. Kudos to Tom. His is the best site on the internet and ranks alongside Yves Smith's NakedCapitalism.com. In fact, Yves cross posted it from TomDispatch this morning.
Titled: Invasion of the Data Snatchers, Big Data and the Internet of Things Means the Surveillance of Everything
It says everything that I think and have been writing about in various aspects on this blog. It is the most important general statement about the nature of surveillance and where it is going that I have read so far.
Money connects every aspect of our lives in some way or another and is what this blog is primarily about. Surveillance is analogous to money in many ways. So many ways that looking back on the entries in this blog there is a natural bridge from the nature of what money is and does to the nature of what surveillance is and does. This obvious analog has not really appeared as writing on the wall until now when I see how the two intersect on a common denominator of power.
They are both conceptual abstractions with denominated value relationships. This is an interesting, even fascinating avenue of thought to pursue. What money is and does has evolved over a long period of historical time. Information has also evolved over the same period but is now evolving in orders of magnitude that are going beyond our general public perception or control.
The analysis ends with this statement:
"There’s simply no way to forecast how these immense powers -- disproportionately accumulating in the hands of corporations seeking financial advantage and governments craving ever more control -- will be used. Chances are Big Data and the Internet of Things will make it harder for us to control our own lives, as we grow increasingly transparent to powerful corporations and government institutions that are becoming more opaque to us."
That is wrong. Probability forecast is simple based on the motivations involved: Money and whatever public and private control the nature of information provides or a combination of the two. Obviously, the cover excuse for control is public welfare, safety based on public fear and the nature of agencies to "protect" us.
The forecast is written on the wall. The nature of information is as complicated as the nature of money and the public is just as dumb about either one. OK call it ignorant, uneducated or other more gentle term. The few who understand it will rule. Those that do not will be subjugated.
We really are a dumb nation when it comes to money and information. We have labeled the 1% that have the money. Who are the 1% that have the information at their disposal? Not so much individuals as institutions.
Titled: Invasion of the Data Snatchers, Big Data and the Internet of Things Means the Surveillance of Everything
It says everything that I think and have been writing about in various aspects on this blog. It is the most important general statement about the nature of surveillance and where it is going that I have read so far.
Money connects every aspect of our lives in some way or another and is what this blog is primarily about. Surveillance is analogous to money in many ways. So many ways that looking back on the entries in this blog there is a natural bridge from the nature of what money is and does to the nature of what surveillance is and does. This obvious analog has not really appeared as writing on the wall until now when I see how the two intersect on a common denominator of power.
They are both conceptual abstractions with denominated value relationships. This is an interesting, even fascinating avenue of thought to pursue. What money is and does has evolved over a long period of historical time. Information has also evolved over the same period but is now evolving in orders of magnitude that are going beyond our general public perception or control.
The analysis ends with this statement:
"There’s simply no way to forecast how these immense powers -- disproportionately accumulating in the hands of corporations seeking financial advantage and governments craving ever more control -- will be used. Chances are Big Data and the Internet of Things will make it harder for us to control our own lives, as we grow increasingly transparent to powerful corporations and government institutions that are becoming more opaque to us."
That is wrong. Probability forecast is simple based on the motivations involved: Money and whatever public and private control the nature of information provides or a combination of the two. Obviously, the cover excuse for control is public welfare, safety based on public fear and the nature of agencies to "protect" us.
The forecast is written on the wall. The nature of information is as complicated as the nature of money and the public is just as dumb about either one. OK call it ignorant, uneducated or other more gentle term. The few who understand it will rule. Those that do not will be subjugated.
We really are a dumb nation when it comes to money and information. We have labeled the 1% that have the money. Who are the 1% that have the information at their disposal? Not so much individuals as institutions.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Bulk License Plate Tracking
This link is an excellent description of LPR issues. Government is not participating in collection programs, it is merely buying the product and cannot therefore be blamed for creating it. Probably more cost efficient for the government as well as removing them from the Big Brother hot spot.
In some states, license plates stay with the owner of the vehicle when the vehicle is sold and may be put on a newly purchased vehicle. This is a list of states and info regarding license plate rules related to sale of a vehicle.
In general the persistence of information relevance gives it greater value over time. Constant information related to a thing has greater time value over time than variable information related to a thing. When the license plate stays with the owner of a vehicle when it is sold it really identifies a person more than it identifies a vehicle. The person is constant the vehicle is variable. From a surveillance standpoint it is desirable to obtain a basic mandatory one to one relationship to which can be associated variable information. For example: A person's name, finger print, a license plate number which is applicable to a person over a lifetime of owning different cars.
While owner/vehicle ID is important information, vehicle/actual user at any given time is variable. It could even be a stolen vehicle. Possible users are those living at the same address the vehicle is frequently sighted at overnight.
The entire LPR matter goes in so many directions that are fascinating to investigate. The consolidation of the LPR info provider players under one "go to" agency is perhaps the most interesting especially when extended associated information is related to the license plate.
The information nature of telephone numbers changed substantially with portability. A telephone number now is a more persistent piece of information and therefore more valuable over time. Conversely, less valuable over time in the case of disposable phones, depending on the reasons for their use.
A surveillance model appears to be emerging indicating the growth of privatized surveillance industry. Information readily available now may not be available in the future and on the other hand winning the battle of establishing the free and legal availability of private info now may pay off well in the future, especially to those that get an "institutional monopoly" on the collection of such information. By that I mean that they as an institution and by virtue of being an institution with a self policing set of surveillance industry rules are permitted to collect private information that is in public view while private individuals cannot do the same on a free lance basis.
It would seem that the private surveillance sector would prefer the transfer of license plates remaining with the owner to give more time value persistence to owner ID. With a mix of practice among states it may be interesting to monitor change of state policy over time and the reasons behind any changes.
The most obvious outcome of the LPR situation is that vehicles will have electronic license plates. Will they be readable by anyone with a cell phone and therefore public information, as public as looking at a current license plate? Will the electronic plate identify the driver or the vehicle or both?
Given the hodge/podge nature of state license plate transfer rules at this link it appears that the surveillance sector has an interest in making more uniform national rules to accommodate surveillance and unltimately going to electroninc vehicle/driver ID. For national security reasons, of course, as well as to stop vehicle theft or any other lame reason for such massively invasive information.
MAC address information on electronic devices in our pockets are analogous to license plates on a vehicle.
While information that persists over time has value, like a person's name, fleeting information related to it has great real time information value that may decline over time if not related to other more persistent information. Real time info has potentially great real time value. Constant real time tracking is about as good as real time gets. Periodic tracking such as license plate readers mounted on long haul trucks as previously suggested in this blog would have considerable short time span value.
In some states, license plates stay with the owner of the vehicle when the vehicle is sold and may be put on a newly purchased vehicle. This is a list of states and info regarding license plate rules related to sale of a vehicle.
In general the persistence of information relevance gives it greater value over time. Constant information related to a thing has greater time value over time than variable information related to a thing. When the license plate stays with the owner of a vehicle when it is sold it really identifies a person more than it identifies a vehicle. The person is constant the vehicle is variable. From a surveillance standpoint it is desirable to obtain a basic mandatory one to one relationship to which can be associated variable information. For example: A person's name, finger print, a license plate number which is applicable to a person over a lifetime of owning different cars.
While owner/vehicle ID is important information, vehicle/actual user at any given time is variable. It could even be a stolen vehicle. Possible users are those living at the same address the vehicle is frequently sighted at overnight.
The entire LPR matter goes in so many directions that are fascinating to investigate. The consolidation of the LPR info provider players under one "go to" agency is perhaps the most interesting especially when extended associated information is related to the license plate.
The information nature of telephone numbers changed substantially with portability. A telephone number now is a more persistent piece of information and therefore more valuable over time. Conversely, less valuable over time in the case of disposable phones, depending on the reasons for their use.
A surveillance model appears to be emerging indicating the growth of privatized surveillance industry. Information readily available now may not be available in the future and on the other hand winning the battle of establishing the free and legal availability of private info now may pay off well in the future, especially to those that get an "institutional monopoly" on the collection of such information. By that I mean that they as an institution and by virtue of being an institution with a self policing set of surveillance industry rules are permitted to collect private information that is in public view while private individuals cannot do the same on a free lance basis.
It would seem that the private surveillance sector would prefer the transfer of license plates remaining with the owner to give more time value persistence to owner ID. With a mix of practice among states it may be interesting to monitor change of state policy over time and the reasons behind any changes.
The most obvious outcome of the LPR situation is that vehicles will have electronic license plates. Will they be readable by anyone with a cell phone and therefore public information, as public as looking at a current license plate? Will the electronic plate identify the driver or the vehicle or both?
Given the hodge/podge nature of state license plate transfer rules at this link it appears that the surveillance sector has an interest in making more uniform national rules to accommodate surveillance and unltimately going to electroninc vehicle/driver ID. For national security reasons, of course, as well as to stop vehicle theft or any other lame reason for such massively invasive information.
MAC address information on electronic devices in our pockets are analogous to license plates on a vehicle.
While information that persists over time has value, like a person's name, fleeting information related to it has great real time information value that may decline over time if not related to other more persistent information. Real time info has potentially great real time value. Constant real time tracking is about as good as real time gets. Periodic tracking such as license plate readers mounted on long haul trucks as previously suggested in this blog would have considerable short time span value.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Monetizing the LPR data base
A vast amount of license plate location and time information is being collected and stored by commercial entities. The data base/data mining model dictates that every possible profit be rendered from this information. Primary reasons for collection may be sale of info to law enforcement or repo services there are far more opportunities to monetize the data base.
It is probable that many information applications are not publicized. They are open to a great amount of speculation however since the profit motivation is obvious for certain applications.
License Plate Recognition (LPR) Picking the Low Hanging
Google Map and street view got the extremely low hanging fruit of privacy related information. The rubber of information meets the road where conceptual knowledge meets physical reality. Where information connects to something real. Real things like geographical location and real people. Real things that exist in real time and space as opposed to the conceptual abstract of these things.
Rather than call the nexus of Conceptual/Real the low hanging fruit of information for easy picking, it might be more like bottom feeding in the information food chain that builds up in a bottom up assembly process to a top level control. Conversely, top level control is a managerial start point to drill down in a top down breakdown process to what is necessary to efficiently feed on the information plankton at the bottom that supports the whale.
Positioning a person in time and space over a time line is about the most basic information that can be gathered on a person. That defines the unique identity of a person. Who exactly that unique person is distinct from all other people on earth. That unique identification is what information engineering seeks as the fundamental building block of any conceptual information system. Total information all the time is knowing where a unique person is/was at any given time in the past/present and will likely be in the future. Call that an information lock on a person. What they have done, what they are doing right now and what they will most likely do in the future all related to real/conceptual things.
Call it the God's eye view.
When that is known there is much money to be made with the real/conceptual information system. To the extent that "companies are people my friend", what applies to individuals also applies to their social structure entities.
As I type this I can see the google save button saving with surprising frequency. It is abnormal. Why is that. It means what I type is going into the cloud quickly. Maybe not so quickly now? It probably save in real time anyhow.
LPR is the next tier of low hanging geographic/conceptual information. So easy to get. Just drive around with a camera like google did. Note that license plates are block out in google street view. Pay people to drive around and vacuum up license plate info. Something anyone and everyone can participate in to monetize their video camera. Millions of cars are on the road going from point A to point B at any given time. With a device that reads all other license plates they could sell the information collected for a penny per hundred or thousand read. Might be a good way to defray the expense of driving. If every truck on the interstate had an LPR reader then license plates of vehicles on the interstate could be tracked in near real time. Instead of monetizing the data base truckers could monetize the presence of their truck on a the road with little or no added expense.
The next tier of low hanging fruit? Facial recognition. Faces as license plates that identify a unique person with greater accuracy than a license plate.
Beyond that and reaching a little higher? MAC addresses of personal computing devices.
In every case there must be defense of the right to collect this information and turn it into money. Entities that make money on information collection are of course the prime defenders to their right to do it. It is big bucks business and big bucks will be spent to protect it. Big bucks going into the media/political domains to establish/thwart laws and sway public opinion.
There is obviously a ton of money to be made picking the low hanging information fruit that has a cost of production that is next to nothing and a great value when connected to existing information for data mining.
There is also a ton of money to be made in the business of making such information collection acceptable to the public that this information gathering feeds on. Fear probably being the primary motivator as well as the frequent flip side of fear which is hate of those that are feared and justification of anything to control them.
Hell of a way to make money but there is a hell of a lot of money to be made. Fruit pickers to gather the information are cheap labor.
How much did google drivers get paid. What is the current value of the information they produced?
Rather than call the nexus of Conceptual/Real the low hanging fruit of information for easy picking, it might be more like bottom feeding in the information food chain that builds up in a bottom up assembly process to a top level control. Conversely, top level control is a managerial start point to drill down in a top down breakdown process to what is necessary to efficiently feed on the information plankton at the bottom that supports the whale.
Positioning a person in time and space over a time line is about the most basic information that can be gathered on a person. That defines the unique identity of a person. Who exactly that unique person is distinct from all other people on earth. That unique identification is what information engineering seeks as the fundamental building block of any conceptual information system. Total information all the time is knowing where a unique person is/was at any given time in the past/present and will likely be in the future. Call that an information lock on a person. What they have done, what they are doing right now and what they will most likely do in the future all related to real/conceptual things.
Call it the God's eye view.
When that is known there is much money to be made with the real/conceptual information system. To the extent that "companies are people my friend", what applies to individuals also applies to their social structure entities.
As I type this I can see the google save button saving with surprising frequency. It is abnormal. Why is that. It means what I type is going into the cloud quickly. Maybe not so quickly now? It probably save in real time anyhow.
LPR is the next tier of low hanging geographic/conceptual information. So easy to get. Just drive around with a camera like google did. Note that license plates are block out in google street view. Pay people to drive around and vacuum up license plate info. Something anyone and everyone can participate in to monetize their video camera. Millions of cars are on the road going from point A to point B at any given time. With a device that reads all other license plates they could sell the information collected for a penny per hundred or thousand read. Might be a good way to defray the expense of driving. If every truck on the interstate had an LPR reader then license plates of vehicles on the interstate could be tracked in near real time. Instead of monetizing the data base truckers could monetize the presence of their truck on a the road with little or no added expense.
The next tier of low hanging fruit? Facial recognition. Faces as license plates that identify a unique person with greater accuracy than a license plate.
Beyond that and reaching a little higher? MAC addresses of personal computing devices.
In every case there must be defense of the right to collect this information and turn it into money. Entities that make money on information collection are of course the prime defenders to their right to do it. It is big bucks business and big bucks will be spent to protect it. Big bucks going into the media/political domains to establish/thwart laws and sway public opinion.
There is obviously a ton of money to be made picking the low hanging information fruit that has a cost of production that is next to nothing and a great value when connected to existing information for data mining.
There is also a ton of money to be made in the business of making such information collection acceptable to the public that this information gathering feeds on. Fear probably being the primary motivator as well as the frequent flip side of fear which is hate of those that are feared and justification of anything to control them.
Hell of a way to make money but there is a hell of a lot of money to be made. Fruit pickers to gather the information are cheap labor.
How much did google drivers get paid. What is the current value of the information they produced?
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Digital Recognition Network
The subject business enterprise was referenced in the prior blog commenting of license plate recognition. This company is located at 4150 International Plz #800 (or ste 2-B10) Fort Worth, Texas. Telephone 817-877-0077. Chris Metaxas (and here) is the CEO. It was founded in 2010 and privately held. Johnie Cort Dehart is president, John Nethery is manager. Kent Bradshaw is Finance, Whitney Neve is Marketing, Bruce Cummings is Data Acquistion, John Morgan is Business Development. Brett Balint is an Affiliate Manager. Stefan Swienton, IT. Richard Rodenbusch, Product Development.
From this link:
It offers DRNWebRepo, a proprietary technology software; DRNAffiliate program; Web-based routing and reporting tools; and DRNDashView and DRNInteliRouting, which helps to monitor efficiencies and results in a Web-based environment. The company has strategic partnerships with American Recovery Association Inc., Recovery Management Incorporated, Dynamic, RDN, and Vigilant Video. Digital Recognition Network, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
BetaBoston has a story about this company.
The company website is digitalrecognition.net My browser could not verify the identity of the website and says the root certificate is not trusted: root@vceprdlpor01.drnce.local. It requires a user name and password to enter. However, accessible through submit a ticket there is more info on the company. The latest company news is from 2011.
This at the company website: digital recognition.net
The other company website is DRNdata.com
"No, we do not collect the data" does not suffice. Maybe they just get it by paying for it like the NSA?
Homeland Security wants national LPR data. Data from governmental agencies I suppose but also from private business in that business I assume.
From this link:
It offers DRNWebRepo, a proprietary technology software; DRNAffiliate program; Web-based routing and reporting tools; and DRNDashView and DRNInteliRouting, which helps to monitor efficiencies and results in a Web-based environment. The company has strategic partnerships with American Recovery Association Inc., Recovery Management Incorporated, Dynamic, RDN, and Vigilant Video. Digital Recognition Network, Inc. was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Fort Worth, Texas.
BetaBoston has a story about this company.
The company website is digitalrecognition.net My browser could not verify the identity of the website and says the root certificate is not trusted: root@vceprdlpor01.drnce.local. It requires a user name and password to enter. However, accessible through submit a ticket there is more info on the company. The latest company news is from 2011.
This at the company website: digital recognition.net
The other company website is DRNdata.com
About DRN
Digital Recognition Network is the only asset location company that combines proprietary license plate recognition (LPR) technology, a national network of LPR camera-equipped vehicles, and integration with repossession software companies to create an asset location solution designed specifically for automotive lenders and recovery professionals. DRN's LPR2.0/Locate, Pickup, Real-Time platform further establishes DRN as the undisputed leader in asset location technology and services. DRN currently has contracts in place with 36 of the top 100 automotive lenders, who collectively represent 69% of the total volume of automotive loans underwritten in the United States.
With a national network of more than 440 recovery professionals ("Affiliates") operating 1,800 cameras covering all of the major metropolitan areas 24/7, DRN is increasing recovery rates and reducing risk for lenders and repossession professionals all over the United States. To date, DRN's Affiliate network has scanned over 300 million plates and consistently scans in excess of 1 million plates per day.
LPR 3.0 is DRN software product. The newest member of SmartRecovery product Suite. Some blog chatter about LPR and DRN here.
This link to MBSI Capital of Phoenix AZ product: LPRKloud which is associated with DNR LPR as well as MVTRACK, PRA Location Services and Plate Locate. MBSI partners here. Repostat is an MBSI product although there are no recent google hits on Repostat.
LPRKloud is very interesting. It consolidates LPR information. An obvious evolution of independent data bases to a consolidated cloud benefitting all industry participators. Easy to see that writing on the wall. "LPR Assignments" is a frequently used phrase that I interpret to mean wanted License Plate info. and "Assignment Status" to mean reports of LPR sightings. Nowhere on the website is the word "license" used nor "license plate recognition".
Compliance Made Easy is an MBSI product
Vigilant's website is PR oriented toward law enforcement solutions citing numerous examples of the use of Vigilant information contributing to police work. "Contributing" by providing access to the Vigilant data base, not necessarily using Vigilant products to create their own local managed law enforcement data base although police agencies do that using their own equipment and personnel. Police managed systems however do not, at least publicly, cruise shopping centers or otherwise "vacuum up" license plate data just for the purpose of a general surveillance data base to be used when necessary to find some perp among all the info in the data base, 99% of which is probably just normal car traffic.
The NSA does not collect license plate data either but certainly pays to get it. That makes a big difference. Government Big Brother is not watching and recording. Free private enterprise is doing it.
If Companies are people can people do what companies do? Collect information for commercial purposes? Who are the people that drive around with LPR equipment vacuuming up license plate numbers?
If Mac addresses are not protected are they fair game for being collected also by anyone and associated to individuals?
My city does not use LPR readers and replied to the ACL saying that.
"The City of --- Police Department currently does not use automatic license plate readers (ALPR);
therefore, policy and information regarding ALPR is not available. "
What should be asked is: Who do you request license plate recognition data from? List government agencies. List commercial agencies.
Homeland Security wants national LPR data. Data from governmental agencies I suppose but also from private business in that business I assume.
License Plate Readers
I have previously blogged about license plate readers. This report tells about the use of readers by the auto repo industry. While they are primary users of the information the information collecting company is Vigilant Solutions.
The report says that the repo industry powers the information collection agencies. I am sure that the info collection companies do a substantial amount of business with them but maybe more important to the companies doing information collection business is the use of the repo industry as an excuse for collecting general "private" information on all citizens for a business model of monetizing the data base.
Monetizing the data base means selling information to whomever wants to buy it and selling it for the highest price relative to the cost of production. A definition of profit. The information, license plate numbers in this case, is free. All cost is in collection transmission, storage and cost of computer processing.
Free information to be collected is like gold laying on the ground and the new gold rush is on to gather the easily picked up nuggets. After the easy ones, the harder to get, more costly to process information will be the next tier to be collected.
The situation is simple and exactly like the NSA model. Collect information on everyone because some information on a small segment is extremely valuable. There is profit in expanding the size of the segment to which the collected information can be sold for some reason to some entity for a great return on investment. It is a profit model. That is a common business model. Duh! The less government interference there is with this model the greater the profit. That, of course is another business strategy.
Free information is a free for all! I hereby claim all rights including bragging rights for coining that phrase to the extent that it does not have any hits on google when entered in quotes. Nobody has ever used that phrase in anything that the google crawler has indexed. I am the first! It may be my one and only claim to fame. However it was probably used internally at the NSA. Their data base, however is not available to Google, although it may appear in the Snowden documents. Being first is euphoric like climbing Everest!
Vigilant Solutions and all others in the same business knows that privacy is personal privacy is a gut issue, political issue, government regulation issue. Business rules in this area because business controls the rules as well as the media that attempts to control public opinion. In order to protect the business model of collecting public information on individuals they have to have a well designed plan to thwart negative public and governmental reaction. Governmental regulatory action primarily and public reaction as much as possible. Same old game as the NSA. The end must justify the means.
Get the bad guys is always an excellent excuse for doing things where the pay off is really something else entirely. A model used by the defense industry. If bad guys are not there then they have to be created. There is no need to create bad guys in the our society. There are more than enough there already. The pickings are rich. Perverts for example at the extreme end. Easy pickings at the extreme end. Just choose something everyone hates and start walking back the hate list from there. Throw in some manipulated hate where enough does not exist already on an easy target.
Nobody objects to identifying sex offenders by location. Beyond that start is a continuum of reasons to collect information on everyone for some reason, even if it is a innocent as a birth certificate. All that is needed is some sort of reasonable reason. Reasonable by any definition and circumstance.
It is easy to make a million dollars in the business sector related to monetizing publicly available private information. If I wanted to become richer that is the sector in which to do it. Cost of collection is cheap, storage and processing is cheap. The price that certain entities will pay for the information is big.
Buy low and sell high! Can't claim rights to counting that phrase but it is certainly applicable. To disguise this business model from the great unwashed that would selfishly use it to her filthy rich it is called arbitrage.
To keep the analysis extremely simple so the complexity of the information collection business can be easily understood this is what it is all about: The objective in the business of collecting public information on private persons is to connect the information collected to the private person. After making the connection, the second step is to find some entity that will pay for that information. After that it is as easy and taking the money.
People go to business schools to learn and apply this money making idea?
Value added is the the meat of information collection. Great value is added when a license plate number is associated with an individual and that association is connected to a repo record that identifies an individual as a deadbeat. That is one degree of separation information pay off. Take it to a third of fourth degree by associating to other pieces of private information about an individual and the pay off grows geometrically.
License plate number is one piece of information. Value is added by also recording the GPS location as well as the time of information acquisition. Three pieces of information. GPS positioning information can be entered into Google maps to obtain visual information about the location. Pay some off shore worker to do this or automatically obtain it through a search program that gives addresses located within a perimeter of the location. Probably the latter. At some point when qualitative information is required then cheap foreign labor can do it.
If while cruising a parking lot or street a real time alert is received on a license of interest or sufficient interest to warrant added attention then the person collecting the information might get an added bonus if they waited until the driver returned to the car and obtained an unprotected wifi or bluetooth MAC identification from a cell phone or computer. In the case of a computer it is probably in the car rather than carried with the owner. Perhaps an added bonus for a picture of the interior of the vehicle. Another bonus for a picture of the person returning to the vehicle.
While the subject story of this blog describes the cost of scanning equipment to do this as above $10k, a simple app for an iPhone would probably be the cheapest solution but more likely than using the iPhone camera a feed from a cheap high res video camera would be better. If something as finely subtle as facial recognition is possible, reading license plate numbers should be simple. Especially simple if the camera is sampling at a high rate and a fast shutter speed. At night an infrared light could be used.
Beyond stationary cars the other part of a vehicle's existence is spent on the move. It is certainly as easy and cheap to record license plates of vehicles in motion. In addition to obtaining license plate information, open MAC addresses of devices in motion anywhere, on the road or being carried is equally obtainable with no need of a visible or disguised device necessary to obtain it. I have also previously blogged about such devices and methods.
Raw private information is available to be scooped up and sold to be further refined in to more precious stuff that can be sold for even more. Sold in some cases to government or other restricted entities that could not collect and process the same information.
There is value in license plate information collected at the gross level and valued at the gross level. For example, special events where presence of the vehicle relates to the event and the drivers probable association with that event.
Relating license plate numbers to individuals depends on a data base to do this. States have this data base but so does any entity that holds a loan on the vehicle. Otherwise the information would have to come from another source. That information would be valuable and the object of effort to obtain it. Vehicle associated to residence might be a common method as well as being a valuable independent information association. Auto dealerships might be a source of license plate information as well as any entity that services the vehicle for things like oil change or even car washing. I expect that there would be many entities having license plate associated with owner information that would monetize their data base with no questions asked. Becoming an "affiliate" of the entity buying this information and sharing it with them is one way around any privacy concerns.
This site has a list of businesses that deal in license plate recognition
The report says that the repo industry powers the information collection agencies. I am sure that the info collection companies do a substantial amount of business with them but maybe more important to the companies doing information collection business is the use of the repo industry as an excuse for collecting general "private" information on all citizens for a business model of monetizing the data base.
Monetizing the data base means selling information to whomever wants to buy it and selling it for the highest price relative to the cost of production. A definition of profit. The information, license plate numbers in this case, is free. All cost is in collection transmission, storage and cost of computer processing.
Free information to be collected is like gold laying on the ground and the new gold rush is on to gather the easily picked up nuggets. After the easy ones, the harder to get, more costly to process information will be the next tier to be collected.
The situation is simple and exactly like the NSA model. Collect information on everyone because some information on a small segment is extremely valuable. There is profit in expanding the size of the segment to which the collected information can be sold for some reason to some entity for a great return on investment. It is a profit model. That is a common business model. Duh! The less government interference there is with this model the greater the profit. That, of course is another business strategy.
Free information is a free for all! I hereby claim all rights including bragging rights for coining that phrase to the extent that it does not have any hits on google when entered in quotes. Nobody has ever used that phrase in anything that the google crawler has indexed. I am the first! It may be my one and only claim to fame. However it was probably used internally at the NSA. Their data base, however is not available to Google, although it may appear in the Snowden documents. Being first is euphoric like climbing Everest!
Vigilant Solutions and all others in the same business knows that privacy is personal privacy is a gut issue, political issue, government regulation issue. Business rules in this area because business controls the rules as well as the media that attempts to control public opinion. In order to protect the business model of collecting public information on individuals they have to have a well designed plan to thwart negative public and governmental reaction. Governmental regulatory action primarily and public reaction as much as possible. Same old game as the NSA. The end must justify the means.
Get the bad guys is always an excellent excuse for doing things where the pay off is really something else entirely. A model used by the defense industry. If bad guys are not there then they have to be created. There is no need to create bad guys in the our society. There are more than enough there already. The pickings are rich. Perverts for example at the extreme end. Easy pickings at the extreme end. Just choose something everyone hates and start walking back the hate list from there. Throw in some manipulated hate where enough does not exist already on an easy target.
Nobody objects to identifying sex offenders by location. Beyond that start is a continuum of reasons to collect information on everyone for some reason, even if it is a innocent as a birth certificate. All that is needed is some sort of reasonable reason. Reasonable by any definition and circumstance.
It is easy to make a million dollars in the business sector related to monetizing publicly available private information. If I wanted to become richer that is the sector in which to do it. Cost of collection is cheap, storage and processing is cheap. The price that certain entities will pay for the information is big.
Buy low and sell high! Can't claim rights to counting that phrase but it is certainly applicable. To disguise this business model from the great unwashed that would selfishly use it to her filthy rich it is called arbitrage.
To keep the analysis extremely simple so the complexity of the information collection business can be easily understood this is what it is all about: The objective in the business of collecting public information on private persons is to connect the information collected to the private person. After making the connection, the second step is to find some entity that will pay for that information. After that it is as easy and taking the money.
People go to business schools to learn and apply this money making idea?
Value added is the the meat of information collection. Great value is added when a license plate number is associated with an individual and that association is connected to a repo record that identifies an individual as a deadbeat. That is one degree of separation information pay off. Take it to a third of fourth degree by associating to other pieces of private information about an individual and the pay off grows geometrically.
License plate number is one piece of information. Value is added by also recording the GPS location as well as the time of information acquisition. Three pieces of information. GPS positioning information can be entered into Google maps to obtain visual information about the location. Pay some off shore worker to do this or automatically obtain it through a search program that gives addresses located within a perimeter of the location. Probably the latter. At some point when qualitative information is required then cheap foreign labor can do it.
If while cruising a parking lot or street a real time alert is received on a license of interest or sufficient interest to warrant added attention then the person collecting the information might get an added bonus if they waited until the driver returned to the car and obtained an unprotected wifi or bluetooth MAC identification from a cell phone or computer. In the case of a computer it is probably in the car rather than carried with the owner. Perhaps an added bonus for a picture of the interior of the vehicle. Another bonus for a picture of the person returning to the vehicle.
While the subject story of this blog describes the cost of scanning equipment to do this as above $10k, a simple app for an iPhone would probably be the cheapest solution but more likely than using the iPhone camera a feed from a cheap high res video camera would be better. If something as finely subtle as facial recognition is possible, reading license plate numbers should be simple. Especially simple if the camera is sampling at a high rate and a fast shutter speed. At night an infrared light could be used.
Beyond stationary cars the other part of a vehicle's existence is spent on the move. It is certainly as easy and cheap to record license plates of vehicles in motion. In addition to obtaining license plate information, open MAC addresses of devices in motion anywhere, on the road or being carried is equally obtainable with no need of a visible or disguised device necessary to obtain it. I have also previously blogged about such devices and methods.
Raw private information is available to be scooped up and sold to be further refined in to more precious stuff that can be sold for even more. Sold in some cases to government or other restricted entities that could not collect and process the same information.
There is value in license plate information collected at the gross level and valued at the gross level. For example, special events where presence of the vehicle relates to the event and the drivers probable association with that event.
Relating license plate numbers to individuals depends on a data base to do this. States have this data base but so does any entity that holds a loan on the vehicle. Otherwise the information would have to come from another source. That information would be valuable and the object of effort to obtain it. Vehicle associated to residence might be a common method as well as being a valuable independent information association. Auto dealerships might be a source of license plate information as well as any entity that services the vehicle for things like oil change or even car washing. I expect that there would be many entities having license plate associated with owner information that would monetize their data base with no questions asked. Becoming an "affiliate" of the entity buying this information and sharing it with them is one way around any privacy concerns.
This site has a list of businesses that deal in license plate recognition
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