So, use a VPN. That's a bedrock security measure when using any "public" WiFi transmitter/receiver, whether it's the local Starbucks or the airport.

And use an iPhone which sends randomized MAC addresses to nearby wifi networks to prevent this sort of tracking. Also, OHHH NOOO three square feet of sidewalk space! That's...a lot less space than Turco's Last Stand (https://www.thestranger.com/news/2024/03/11/79421805/after-landlord-complains-seattle-boots-downtowns-oldest-sidewalk-newsstand)

Crappy free wifi is better than no wifi at all (especially given our budget issues - don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good).

And as for the mythical risk of cops using this data, I wouldn’t worry - recent events show that even when information is handed to local police departments, criminals still go uncharged (see WSP’s handling of the I-5 protests - most protesters are in the clear due to incompetent policing). So yea?

Somewhere deep in the bowels of the SPD East Precinct HQ...

"Hey Mac, look! It's that trans kid from Kansas by the 3rd & Union kiosk! Scramble the SWAT team!"

Sure...

@4- it’s not the SPD that your hypothetical trans kid or someone here for an abortion should be worried about. It’s the Kansas/Texas/Idaho State Police who will be looking for them.

Why do we “need” this? 99% of visitors can access all of the internet on their own phones, and it’s a shiny tech screen that will fade in a matter of months once it’s vandalized or coopted by locals using the services. It’s a big business solution in search of a problem, and makes Seattle look like another bland corporate simp where other cities have, you know, actual cultural aspects people come to see. What a silly use of human effort.

If you are reading this, your browsing history is already compromised, because the Stranger website allows third-party tracking cookies. And if you are reading this on your phone, you are essentially sharing all the same information with third parties as would be collected by these dumb kiosks.

People who want to sound smart say things like “if something is free, then you're the product.”

‘Also, Harrell is into surveillance. He said he has been “evangelizing” about police body cams since 2010, about four years before Seattle would launch its pilot program for the cop tech.‘

Well, as it’s apparently doubleplus unpossible for anyone at the Stranger to check on Harrell’s claim, I guess we’ll just have to leave it sounding dubious. Also, police body cams are bad now?

If one walks from Denny to Jackson along any of the N/S avenues, one is already appearing on dozens of surveillance cameras, especially around residential buildings.

@12
And nothing will happen as a result.
It’s more likely KOMO will show up with news cameras, than the SPD will actually solve any crime.

I'm into the drama; i like being filmed like a rock star.

‘In a message, Glaser wrote, “It seems particularly dark that we're going to close down public libraries or limit their hours because the City refuses to raise progressive public revenue and instead demand children do their school work at a kiosk in the rain.” Someone reads the blog!’

More importantly, he’s drunk the Kool-Aid and is faithfully regurgitating the Stranger’s party line. “The City” has provided adequate resources to operate all Library branches during their usual hours. Instead of using those resources, the City Librarian is playing politics with citizens’ and childrens’ Library access:

“As a non-executive department with its own hiring authority, SPL technically does not have to abide by the Mayor’s hiring freeze, but Chief Librarian Tom Fay instituted a freeze to keep in step with the Mayor, Gentry said.”

(https://www.thestranger.com/news/2024/04/11/79463199/the-seattle-public-library-announces-1500-hours-of-closures-in-the-next-eight-weeks)

"1984 Vibes"
I'd bet $100 that Hannah Krieg hasn't even read the first 10 pages of Orwell's "1984".

If you are using TicToc and X you have given up far more information. Looking at you, Hannah.

yawn i guess this author has never been to london

@17 you're joking with that spelling of tiktok right? just checking

EVERYWHERE is "Cop City".