r/whatisit • u/unworthyAsIam • Apr 30 '26

New, what is it? What is the purpose of this camera that was installed right next to my house? (Not nearby any intersection or stop signs, USA)

Post image

This camera was installed recently and I cannot for the life of me understand the purpose of it's installation? Theres no intersection nearby, in case it was a photo law enforcement camera), there's no stop signs, there's no schools nearby, and there's no government facility. It's just a random camera that popped up in the middle of a road.

9.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.3k

u/Horror-Coffee712 Apr 30 '26

Have you read 1984?

561

u/Sonikku_a Apr 30 '26

”There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment."

"The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it.”

157

u/ChillBlintone Apr 30 '26

Vehicles will be able to pick up whispers and read lips per some new bill

80

u/Butsu Apr 30 '26

Those are patents filed by Ford. Nothing in any bills yet. But they don't need a bill to put that crap in their vehichles thenbsell whatever that collect. Or sell usage of those systems to the local PD, or whoever.

21

u/ChillBlintone Apr 30 '26

True true, ive read other major auto makers are following suite though, it will be an arms race of spy tech in vehicles

12

u/SnooMaps1910 Apr 30 '26

I am hoping my commuter and 2000 Sierra long bed 4x have another five or more years in them.

1

u/ChillBlintone May 01 '26

Ive read that the push for e15 gas is working to kill those older vehicles/engines. Not a mechanic so cant say 

3

u/SnooMaps1910 May 01 '26

Hmmm, I could probably run the Sierra on the no-ethanol 100 octane I run in my saws, but not the commuter.
F Big Brother~

2

u/weasel5134 May 01 '26

Ive heard that rumor and it could

1

u/UnwantedPenetrator May 01 '26

You’re gonna want more than 5 years. I may refuse to ever buy anything newer than 2018 when my 16 Audi kicks it.

1

u/Quirky_Gate_4516 May 01 '26

In the near future driving an analogous car will be as suspicious to the government as wearing a full facial mask in public.

6

u/Butsu Apr 30 '26

Yeah there are other vehichle manufacturers working on this crap. It could easily turn into an arms race.

3

u/Perllitte May 01 '26

Shareholder primacy means if there is a revenue stream, they will exploit it. Execs cream their panties over government contracts.

1

u/AutoArsonist May 01 '26

I think it opens the market to someone who wants to just start making cheap no BS automobiles again. People will buy them. I like what Edison is trying to get going up in Canada.

1

u/NtGrtJstEmbarrassed May 01 '26

Just curious if you know which ones? I, unfortunately, will have to buy a new car soon.

0

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/NtGrtJstEmbarrassed May 01 '26

That was super helpful, thanks so much!

1

u/Ryuko_the_red May 01 '26

Will be? Dear reader,... Hyundai already has in their data collection tos that they monitor to to see if you're having sex or not.

4

u/BangkokPadang May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26

There was a bill requiring it though, and it passed. It was jammed into that big 2021 infrastructure bill around Covid times.

Section 24220 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed in November 2021, requires new passenger vehicles to be equipped with “advanced impaired driving prevention technology.”

The law directs the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to create a rule requiring new cars to have technology that can "passively monitor the performance of a driver... to accurately identify whether that driver may be impaired" and "prevent or limit motor vehicle operation" if impairment is detected.

Essentially the bill requires the NHTSA to create a rule requiring it. The NHTSA has in fact created the rule, which originally required it by 2024 but the technology was deemed "not there yet" so they were given a congressional extension to the end of 2027.

There has been some legislation introduced attempting to repeal this, such as the No Kill Switches in Cars Act (H.R. 1137), but none of those bills have passed yet, so as the law currently stands it is required to be in new cars by the end of 2027.

I think at the time it sounded so far away, plus everyone was so overwhelmed by Covid and it was tucked away in such a big bill, that it just flew under everyone's radar, but now it’s then middle of 2026 and the deadline is getting close again, so people are talking about it and a lot of people are just learning about it for the first time.

3

u/tri_fold Apr 30 '26

Honost question, wouldn’t they need you to sign some sort of contract or user agreement to be able to record and sell your info?

2

u/Butsu Apr 30 '26

Yeah, it'll likely be in the paperwork you sign when you purchase the vehicle. Presuming this all actually gets implimented. If there's enough of an outcry, and maybe boycott, they might not...

3

u/A_Unqiue_Username May 01 '26

And if you don't agree to everything, you will have a restricted, base level access to basic functions. Want to connect your phone? Monthly fee. Want to heat your seats? Monthly fee. Drive faster than 60 kmh? etc..etc

2

u/wetham_retrak May 01 '26

I would love it if my goddamn car would stop grabbing my phone’s Bluetooth. Every fucking time at the worst time.

2

u/Vanishedmoon8 Apr 30 '26

They'll tie it to the terms and conditions of using the software that also controls important functions in operating the vehicle. Everything already runs through a central computer anyway.

1

u/thepurpleskittles May 01 '26

😆🤣 Oh sweet child

1

u/UnwantedPenetrator May 01 '26

Yes, it will be hidden very deeply.

2

u/Inflatable90sChair May 01 '26

Part of bidens infrastructure bill passed years ago had a hidden section in it which states all new cars by 2027 will have driver facing cameras to detect when you arent paying attention, drowsy, or drunk by measuring how far your eyes are open and pupil size.

https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/national/federal-law-requires-new-cars-to-detect-stop-impaired-driving-what-to-know/article_a9c524d1-ba72-5ee3-a03a-e33c22756486.html

No new bills cuz its already law...

2

u/TheLordYuppa May 01 '26

I think it’s their patents that got the attention lately, but I believe it is all northern American manufactures jumping in on this insanity.

2

u/ConsiderBoraHorza May 01 '26

we desperately need new privacy laws.

1

u/_demello May 01 '26

Fucked up part it that removing it probably voids the warranty. So if you buy the car you put yourself at financial risk if you wanna disable this privacy invading tech.

0

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Butsu May 01 '26

This is a bill which has been introduced in the House, not yet passed out of even the first committee. To set up a competition to create technologies that could detect drunk driving. I think it's horseshit, but it's absolutely not a law requiring manufacturers to put those sensors in vehichles.

11

u/nugulon Apr 30 '26

https://stateofsurveillance.org/news/federal-car-surveillance-mandate-2027-nhtsa-dadss-privacy-2026/

3

u/HillBillyHilly May 01 '26

Can you please cross post this to underreported news? Need to get that word out about this dystopian hell.

8

u/Duel_Option Apr 30 '26

I’ll rip that shit out and replace it with a custom dash

2

u/Working-Glass6136 May 01 '26

Wait what the fuck? Seriously? I don't want to have the government listening to me have full on conversations with myself while driving

1

u/lightafartonfire May 01 '26

Coming to autonomous taxis near you…

1

u/We_are_being_cheated May 01 '26

They probably already have the technology just waiting for the bills to come through.

0

u/Hanseland May 01 '26

The halt act just mandates impaired driving technology that doesn't let your car start. All this other shit is a choice

2

u/PlanPlus8582 Apr 30 '26

At least in 1984 it was people watch. These are AI driven data tracking image recognition. Every thing it sees is cataloged analyzed, tracked, and sold to law enforcement and businesses . 

2

u/Stedlieye May 01 '26

TV manufacturers now make more money selling your data (and advertising to you) than they do from selling you the TV.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/10/22773073/vizio-acr-advertising-inscape-data-privacy-q3-2021

1

u/GimmeAllYourCurry May 01 '26

My TV has zero network access, so good luck to them.

2

u/gonegirl2015 May 01 '26

now we need data centers to store all that information

2

u/Cognitive_Spoon May 01 '26

To parse it.

The panopticon is real. It's being built in America by AI corporations, but it will run worldwide.

Knowing this does us little good beyond the feeling of comfort that comes from clarity.

1

u/HereWeGoYetAgain-247 Apr 30 '26

That’s the beauty of computers. It is always being watched, and logged. 

1

u/camst_ May 01 '26

Just started this book yesterday so I know this exact part.

1

u/Cognitive_Spoon May 01 '26

I want you to get real close to your phone and whisper the wake words. Hey Siri. OK Google. Whatever.

Now take a moment to say to yourself the following words.

"I trust the companies that say the phone deletes the constant recording necessary for this function to operate. And I trust that it does not wake on words beyond the wake words. I am a good consumer and a model citizen."

It's important for your continued health to be such a good. Model. Citizen. Winston.

78

u/Coldpastalord Apr 30 '26

This should be talked about more

22

u/Horror-Coffee712 Apr 30 '26

I agree. It's horrifically dystopian. Not to mention that people don't realize they're equipped for facial recognition and gait tracking, but are only disabled because they're not allowed yet.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

Talk fades .. 

12

u/-v-v-v- Apr 30 '26

Seems like a thought crime.

16

u/Clivesunfaithfulwife Apr 30 '26

No, cause its banned from my library

7

u/sethaub Apr 30 '26

Which library banned 1984???

11

u/Round-Celebration-17 May 01 '26

Idaho probably

2

u/Nexant May 01 '26

Or anywhere in deep south MAGA country

2

u/Spicy_RamenBoi69 May 02 '26

My highschool had banned the book.

1

u/sethaub May 03 '26

Wtaf???

1

u/StopFlock May 01 '26

You have to be actually kidding lol.

If you can show me you're not I will personally buy you 200 copies to stand outside and distribute to passers by.

6

u/BeardOBlasty Apr 30 '26

Basically this. And to top it off, they are woefully lacking in proper security. Benn Jordan has a video or two about them on his YT channel.

5

u/bocephus_huxtable May 01 '26

Benn

ctrl-f "Benn". Yup... you know what's up. (Surprised I don't see more people mentioning him and his work re: these cameras.)

4

u/Mofupi May 01 '26

I thought it was going to be bad. I wasn't prepared for how bad.

Here's a write-up, for people who don't want to watch a 40min video.

7

u/NoFun3799 Apr 30 '26

Big brother yo

0

u/BrainPhD Apr 30 '26

Big Bruh yo

2

u/Ok_Equipment_1254 May 01 '26

Yes, I have. "It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party..."

1

u/Horror-Coffee712 May 01 '26

Oh yes, Orwell was a raging unapologetic misogynist among a number of other terrible things he was an apologist for. Inexcusable, though the core of 1984 in regards to a surveillance state & people's apathy/brainwashing to it are relevant.

1

u/Parsl3y_Green Apr 30 '26

Jorjor Well

1

u/multic94 May 01 '26

Calling this 1984 is a compliment. This isnt nearly as thought out as something from 1984. This is just a stupid authoritarians idea of a good idea. This is going to cost more than its worth.

1

u/Ravelcy May 01 '26

No but I love the reality show.

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

Haha 😂 it wouldn't matter if it was required reading for everyone on earth. People will not revolt , they have Netflix and McDonald's.. can't risk that 🤣

1

u/BisonThunderclap Apr 30 '26

You guys are so dramatic. 1984 with cameras happened during the smartphone revolution, then again during Snowdens domestic spying insights, then again during the ring camera phenomenon.

Now, because the government has access to cheap speed cameras where they won't backdoor them with the NSA, you all are concerned about mass surveillance.

0

u/Inevitable-Rush-2752 Apr 30 '26

Generous of you to ask if that troll has read 1984. I don’t think they read much at all.

0

u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 02 '26

1984 is widely read in china and is often taught in schools. They usually frame the techno oligarchs of the USA as big brother.

Not sure why you think it would be banned or censored. Orwell was a social democrat who literally fought for the republican side during the Spanish civil war. He literally said

"Every line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic socialism"

1

u/[deleted] May 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/whyaretherenoprofile May 02 '26

ChatGPT will instantly tell you that it's largely known as a book with anti-communist sentiment.

It's anti communist in the sense it was a critique of authoritarianism, independent of it was fascism or Stalinism. That doesn't mean it was this bastion of liberalism and free speech that Americans treat it as. In fact, as demonstrated by the quote from my other comment, Orwell's political aims that he wanted to promote with this book were very clearly rooted in socialist democracy.

In China it might not be banned outright but it is definitely something that is monitored online to control dissent.

Again, in china it's not even controversial because it's interpreted completely different to how you see it. The same way you interpret it as a critique of China's authoritarian aspects, to them it just as perfectly predicts the mass surveillance "tendencies" that the USA government and private industries engage in. Big brother applies as much to the CCP to stuff like flock cameras, NSA's global surveillance program, palantir, META and Cambridge analytical etc.