DSE literally spying on mountain bikers.. WTF?

[No Judge]

Maybe they were recording your rego as part of a competition, and the winner got a new shiny bike!!!! -But we'll never know now.......

I wouldn't have touched it, but that's just me. If you don't want your rego recorded, just park around the corner out of sight of the camera. Simple. But if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide

 

[jhb]

if photos are being taken with no signage where a child could be, it's a crime...correct me please if i'm wrong.

"children are not afforded unique legislative protection when it comes to photographs, consent, privacy or defamation. As with adults you need a signed release for commercial use, but for non-commercial images — nothing."

taken from
http://www.4020.net/words/photorights.php

 

[Lorday]

This thread is worthless without pictures.

 

[S.]

Maybe they were recording your rego as part of a competition, and the winner got a new shiny bike!!!! -But we'll never know now.......

I wouldn't have touched it, but that's just me. If you don't want your rego recorded, just park around the corner out of sight of the camera. Simple. But if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide

As it turns out, and as you'd expect from a hidden camera, they already HAD photos of us before we ever had the opportunity to "just park around the corner". There are photos of numerous vehicles - none of which show anyone doing anything wrong - on the card, and obviously none of the people in those vehicles had any idea they were being photographed.

The whole "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide" concept doesn't quite line up with laws on recording conversations without permission for starters, not to mention it gets you going down the path of "the police/government/authorities can inspect anything/anyone they want wherever they want, whenever they want, for no reason because if you're doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to hide". Dunno about you but I don't support that idea - ever read 1984?

 

[Bjorn]

f you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide

I call bullshit on that statement. You may not feel as though you have anything to hide and have no problem being filmed, but that is a justification that so many people spout to allow surveillance to intrude on our lives just a little more each time. The death of a thousand cuts.
Now S. strikes me as a fairly switched on individual and I'm guessing since he's seen photos of them and their friends on that SD card, he's looked through the pictures and I'm sure they wouldn't delete off pictures of people dumping rubbish/ nuclear waste/ bodies of infants. Feel free to dispute this statement.
I don't see anything wrong with S. choosing to remain on the DL. I and many others feel that being filmed without our consent is an injustice and as Thomas Jefferson said, "When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty."

 

[AngoXC]

if photos are being taken with no signage where a child could be, it's a crime...correct me please if i'm wrong.

As stated above, in Australia on public land;

"A person, in our society, does not have a right not to be photographed."

Anti-Voyeurism, Defamation and Obscenity laws still apply, as do common law doctrines of Nuisance, Trespass etc.

 

[Norco Maniac]

as a parent, i was restricted from taking photos of my kids at sports carnivals only a few years ago because other kids may have been in the pics. i'm fine with that, by the way.

i've also been pulled over at Marulan, told to get out of my legally modified car, been physically searched/ undressed in a public place by a male police officer, had my underwear and birth control pills thrown on the ground in front of male police officers, and had sniffer dogs go over my car and had the engineer's certificate torn up and been defected despite it. at no time did i resist or give cheek during this process, i co-operated fully. this was four years ago.

apparently the RTA inspectors can over-rule an engineer's certificate on a whim. welcome to the police state, folks.

so apparently i have to give written permission for my GP to send my files to a specialist who i have requested to see, under the freedom of information act, my local pub has to post notices that they are filming for security purposes, but i can be filmed in public without my knowledge or permission if i ride my bike on public trails?

please explain.

 

[Bjorn]

as a parent, i was restricted from taking photos of my kids at sports carnivals only a few years ago because other kids may have been in the pics. i'm fine with that, by the way.

i've also been pulled over at Marulan, told to get out of my legally modified car, been physically searched/ undressed in a public place by a male police officer, had my underwear and birth control pills thrown on the ground in front of male police officers, and had sniffer dogs go over my car and had the engineer's certificate torn up and been defected despite it. at no time did i resist or give cheek during this process, i co-operated fully. this was four years ago.

apparently the RTA inspectors can over-rule an engineer's certificate on a whim. welcome to the police state, folks.

so apparently i have to give written permission for my GP to send my files to a specialist who i have requested to see, under the freedom of information act, my local pub has to post notices that they are filming for security purposes, but i can be filmed in public without my knowledge or permission if i ride my bike on public trails?

please explain.

If you squint, you can see the red stripe up the side of the officers trousers and the broad arrows printed on your clothes; not much changes in 223 years.

 

[Norco Maniac]

If you squint, you can see the red stripe up the side of the officers trousers and the broad arrows printed on your clothes; not much changes in 223 years.

also birth control pills and Tiger Balm are drugs, y'know.

yes, i got booked for having "restricted substances" in my luggage. i didn't have the prescription on me for the 'pill. it was later thrown out of court, but FFS.


good thing i'm not of the coloured persuasion, i may never have breathed free air again.

 

[Macr]

if photos are being taken with no signage where a child could be, it's a crime...correct me please if i'm wrong.

I am really against the fact that people try that on in public. Firstly as has been informed that is incorrect and second, mud sticks. This is a form of hysteria created by do-gooders.
It is like saying that there is 20 mountain bikers in the community, that skid around corners digging up trails, so all mountain biking should be illegal.

As a photographer I have a real stigma about about photographing people, because I am afraid of being accused of being a paedophile or a pervert. This is wrong. I should not be afraid. The issue is once the mud is thrown and it gets to the media, whether you are acquitted or not, you are forever considered a paedophile.

I am also against illegal surveillance, this is something a paedophile would do. This is something I would not expect our government departments do, with out a court order.

 

[flamin'trek]

If they record these images for later use then I suppose I might be concerned. If they are looking for illegal activities chances are that anything legal/normal will be ignored, and hopefully deleted. If they are trying to do some sort of traffic count then hopefully all they do is count, then delete.

I guess I wouldn't be all that happy if my legal/normal activity usage is being permanently recorded, but if it helps stop illegal dumping, vandalism and the like then it's a fairly small price to pay.

Under freedom of information you should be able to get an answer as to why they are recording at the very least.

 

[toodles]

I reckon put a blank SD card back in and reactivate the camera. Then get one of your mates to get rolled up in carpet with his feet sticking out and put him in the trunk of a car. Take the plates off and drive up within view of the camera. Get out, start dragging the carpet rolled mate out of the trunk, then 'spot' the camera. Have a brief discussion and put Mr Carpet back in the trunk and high-tail it out of there.

 

[harmonix1234]

I reckon put a blank SD card back in and reactivate the camera. Then get one of your mates to get rolled up in carpet with his feet sticking out and put him in the trunk of a car. Take the plates off and drive up within view of the camera. Get out, start dragging the carpet rolled mate out of the trunk, then 'spot' the camera. Have a brief discussion and put Mr Carpet back in the trunk and high-tail it out of there.

Best reply yet!

 

[Dozer]

Hmmm, I'm with S on this. It sounds as though someone is recording the actions of mountain bike riders and I doubt it'd be to create the next Clay Porter film. The fact that some of the trail maintenance guys were riding with S sounds as though there is some shit going on that the riders and builders in that area may not know about and they should be told before someone shows up in a suit with an envelope full of photos showing a car with a group of guys on bikes with helmets on. That isn't exactly compelling evidence..........

For the record, I would have taken the card and left my phone number so I could be told why I was being filmed in the hope that I could be part of repairing whatever the issue is.

 

[flamshmizer]

as a parent, i was restricted from taking photos of my kids at sports carnivals only a few years ago because other kids may have been in the pics. i'm fine with that, by the way.

I don't get this to be honest. If a peadophile can get his jollies off of a photo of fully clothed kids running at a sports carnival, then thats just something society is going to have to deal with. Fully clothed kids are everywhere, they're in the streets, at shopping centres, airports, zoo's, on public tranpsort etc. I can see that swimming carnivals photo's could be a worry, but not at a regular sports day.

The main reason (apart from being sick and twisted) there are laws against child porn is because it exploits the children and they're too young to understand, the law is there to protect them. If they're having a blast running around on sports day then what are we protecting them from?

Anyway, thats a bit off topic. I don't know what to think about the hidden camera, seems dodgy, but I think we sort of pay that price with less than legal tracks. I'd like to see how this pans out. I don't like the idea of rego being recorded.

 

[faz]

I don't like the idea of rego being recorded.

It was probably recorded a good half a dozen or more times on the way there, let alone just when you park the car.

 

[whoateallthepies]

I am with S. on this, too. My question would be, who was supposed to look at these photos? As pointed out earlier, they could have recorded some other interesting stuff that tends to happen in quiet car parks. Could also be as simple as riders changing their cloths after a ride. What if some perv gets access to the pictures, at the DSE, or simply by pulling the card out of the camera like S did. Think about the implications, possibly blackmailing people etc.
This is wrong, and the old statement "I've got nothing to hide" is just about the most ignorant, stupid answer possible.


I bet if the DSE hat asked a reputable security company to put up concealed cameras in that car park, they would not have done it. Not without at least putting up some signs.

 

[mudmav]

I have spoken with My mate who works for DSE and he put me on to the poweltown area co ordinator who explained why the cameras are their, illl write an in depth response in about 2 hours on my lunch break. For now lets just leave it at they have a good reason they are not breaking any laws and please please dont touch them. Ill explain more soon. I assume from the conversation i had with them this morning that s is also sending back the memory card he removed

 

[silentbutdeadly]

DSE have been using those cameras for ages for all sorts of reasons including http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/arthur-ry...apping-and-measuring-biodiversity#autocameras

The fact that they might also be using them to monitor land use, traffic flow and other factors relating to how the general public use Crown land is of no surprise. The DSE are not magicians and they don't work seven days a week. Using tools like these will help them figure out how and why various portions of the Crown estate are being used and whether they are being used appropriately - for example, have the facilities and trails been designed or are in a condition to cope with an increased level of visitor use? Or something similar.

Gee they might even be wondering how many bikes are using the area and is there something they can do to manage the area to handle that use in the long term

To imagine that there's something sinister going on here is foolish in the extreme. The data captured by the camera (the comings and goings of people & cars) can not be used to apportion blame for any 'wilful damage' or misuse of public infrastructure unless the deed was caught on camera. So unless you broke into a fellow park users car then you have fuck all to worry about. The fact that you have stolen the SD card is another matter.

Rather than wading through life pretending you are a mindless victim of a worldwide conspiracy...how about using your imagination? DSE is an organisation whose business is conducted by educated people and the people at the general enquiries section are far more qualified than the OP to exercise their thoughts in public. Even better...they can actually be helpful. Next time....instead of theiving the property of the Crown (and therefore my property and that of every other forum member)...how about simply spending twenty cents and a small amount of time ringing the DSE and asking them about the cameras and what they might be doing there?

Is that so fucking hard?

To all here who engage in such pointless conspiratorial fantasies....the rest of the world is not always out there trying to shit on your head because frankly you aren't significant enough personally to make it worth our effort. Try not being so self centred enough to think otherwise...you'll be a much better person for it.

 

[faz]

I am with S. on this, too. My question would be, who was supposed to look at these photos? As pointed out earlier, they could have recorded some other interesting stuff that tends to happen in quiet car parks. Could also be as simple as riders changing their cloths after a ride. What if some perv gets access to the pictures, at the DSE, or simply by pulling the card out of the camera like S did. Think about the implications, possibly blackmailing people etc.
This is wrong, and the old statement "I've got nothing to hide" is just about the most ignorant, stupid answer possible.

Not nearly as ignorant and stupid as suggesting blackmail, perverts and what ever else it you suggested.