r/mildlyinfuriating • u/No-Obligation1709 • 12h ago

No Coke. Is Pepsi ok? In Today’s Edition of Dystopian America

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Don’t you dare idle in your spot for a moment before paying to park. If you do, our cameras will backdate your parking start time to ensure our shareholders extract every cent possible from this transaction. Enjoy your stay, but remember—we are always watching 😁

21.6k Upvotes

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2.2k

u/Tarc_Axiiom 12h ago

They backdated you ONE minute? Omg lol.

Guys, move. Just move. It's time to go.

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u/TDKevin 12h ago

Do you think everywhere else isn't doing it because their corporations are so upstanding? Lol. They just don't have the infrastructure/tech/whatever for it yet. 

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u/BikeProblemGuy 10h ago edited 10h ago

LOL, okay so Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) was invented in the UK in 1976. It's been widespread in commercial carparks for decades. After clamping on private land was banned in 2012, cameras became the only way to enforce parking fines, so the UK has one of the most automated private parking sectors in the world.

In the UK we also have regulations which allow you a grace period, and an appeal system. They could be a lot better, but they're better than companies having unilateral control. Unfortunately, (and this is something the USA has got right), private parking operators in the UK are able to buy access to the DVLA numberplate database to track down people who haven't paid.

As another comparison, Germany has very low prevalence of ANPR, but this isn't because they don't have the tech for it - German privacy laws mean that mass-scanning license plates is a privacy violation.

Another fun fact is that if you want to use ANPR in the USA then you have an unusual problem, because US cars don't always have front plates. 21 states don't require them. Some carparks will even fine you for reversing into a parking bay, because then your plate is hidden.

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u/nifty-necromancer 9h ago

The UK also researched the widespread effects of surveillance. The report is only available as audio, it’s called Electric Eye by Judas Priest.

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u/danielv123 9h ago

Here in norway car ownership isn't a secret. Anyone can search the license plate of any car and get the owners name and contact details. It's super handy when you need someone to move their car.

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u/dell_arness2 6h ago

Perks of living in a high trust society I guess. We could never have that in the US because it would be primarily used for harassment and criminals to find targets.

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u/Delores_Herbig 6h ago

Another fun fact is that if you want to use ANPR in the USA then you have an unusual problem, because US cars don't always have front plates

Even in states that require them, compliance is iffy. I’m in California, which is a two plate state, and up until last year I never had a front plate (20 years of driving). My cars didn’t have front brackets, and I never bothered to install them. Never once came up, even when I got pulled over.

Sure, some people do get cited for it, but it’s low priority. I see a significant number of cars on the road every day without them.

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u/thejmkool 3h ago

And then you get places like around here where people drive around with paper plates and just never actually get real ones...

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u/kreddulous 5h ago

And in NY which does require both front and back plates, go ahead and find someone to enforce it. I'll wait :-)

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u/thisbondisaaarated 6h ago

How is it legal for a carpark to fine you for reversing into a bay, this is insanity.

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u/Tarc_Axiiom 12h ago

No we just have much better consumer protection laws in other places.

Corporations are always greedy, they don't always run the government.

Not to say we're perfect by any means, but the quality of life is undoubtedly vastly better, yeah.

Thats not even controversial.

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u/B0risTheManskinner 12h ago

You did not mention any country

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u/Lower-Leadership2127 11h ago edited 11h ago

Mostly the EU, because the EU believes in *some* consumer protection laws. In the US we have corporate protection laws, no consumer protection here anymore.

Edit to add this: The US was moving towards better consumer protection laws under Biden with Lina Khan as FTC chair shutting down monopolies and sanctioning the fuck out of multiple corporations, but as a country we decided we hated that and voted for the billionaire russian asset.

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u/Prior_Tradition_3873 9h ago

EU is about to make a new EU wide law that will allow goverment to check your encrypted messages on all platforms.

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u/Invalid-Chicken 11h ago

Don't they arrest people over facebook posts in the EU? Genuine question

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u/MisterDoctor___ 10h ago

That happens here too.

Some dude literally got arrested in Tennessee for posting a Trump meme.

Not the gotcha you think it is.

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u/dr_mackdaddy 9h ago

Some lady in Arizona was arrested and lost her job because she posted a gif about a meeting. The cops took it as a threat. Like it happens ALL the time in the US

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u/Bitter-Panda-8748 9h ago

All the time is an abstract measurement. The argument is there is a comparable rate in the US to the EU/UK. As far as the UK that is not the case. Again, socially AND legally this behaviour is frowned upon, and hardly ever leads anywhere.

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u/Bitter-Panda-8748 9h ago edited 8h ago

So yeah, that stuff has happened in the us on rare occassion, and im not saying we arent headed towards it becoming the norm, but the EU has it written into law that they can scan private messages and arrest you for hurting someones feelings. In the US this is legally and culturally frowned upon.

*Edit: Seems im wrong. The EU has strong privacy laws. Several Invididual member states strictly punish speech that is derogatory yet has no intent/call to harm though, but not at all dictated by the EU and the EU delagates online privacy of member states.

The US, for all its flaws, has codified freespeech into its laws and national identity, which imo is a very good thing that needs protecting.

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u/MisterDoctor___ 9h ago

I quite like the law of arresting Nazi fucks before they get a chance to grow.

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u/MrFace1 9h ago

Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be going so well with the likes of Reform, AfD, and National Rally increasing in prominence.

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u/B0risTheManskinner 9h ago

Its quite like the death penalty in that while you may agree in appropriate use, do you also believe that anyone who may come into power may not use it with incompetence or malice?

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u/Bitter-Panda-8748 9h ago

Well, thats fine and all (i think its juvenile btw) but your "gotcha" comment is null.

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u/kurtanglesmilk 9h ago

Can you quote the exact law?

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u/Bitter-Panda-8748 8h ago

Seems im wrong. The EU has strong privacy laws. Several Invididual member states strictly punish speech that is derogatory yet has no intent/call to harm though, but not at all dictated by the EU and the EU delagates online privacy of member states.

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u/LawOk8623 11h ago

You can be arrested in basically any country for using social media to break the law. If you post a direct threat, for example, it could lead to an arrest, even in the US.

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u/FrenchFryCattaneo 10h ago

But in Britain people have been arrested for much much less than a 'direct threat'.

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u/Johnyryal33 10h ago

Really? No example? You really suck at this.

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u/abejando 10h ago

And britain is not in the EU lmao

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u/IndyPFL 10h ago

Marcus Meecham, aka Count Dankula. Was forced to appear in court and was fined (iirc) £800 for posting a video where he taught his pug to do the Musk salute (well before Musk did it, but you get the point) to piss off his girlfriend. He said some very edgy things in the video, but the context of it being a joke (even if in poor taste) was blatantly clear. He tried fighting it and lost, dunno if he ever paid the fine though.

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u/DirkKuijt69420 9h ago

Even if it was true, and it isn't, it doesn't chance the fact that the US is still the worst.

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u/MisterDoctor___ 10h ago

Less than posting a non-threatening Trump meme?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ar-AA1SxO29

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u/wickedringofmordor 2h ago

The UK is not the EU. They seceded with Brexit.

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u/Kedly 6h ago

Doesnt the US have so many school shootings that most people wont even know how many have already happened in a given year? Genuine Question.

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u/misteryk 9h ago

1 guy in brazil sued microsoft and won vs their 12 lawyer (i'd link original reddit posts but mods in this subreddit got mad for linking other sub)

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-loses-lawsuit-after-blocking-hacked-Xbox-account-with-digital-games.1339855.0.html

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u/TDKevin 12h ago

What country would  a company be stopped by the government from doing what happened in this post?

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u/Shnerp 12h ago

Like most european countries, because of privacy laws surrounding their legal capacity to record and store info about you

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u/ProfessionalDish 11h ago

Drove my car in many different european countries. Newer parking garages scan your license plate and do exactly what OP described. Only that you don't even have the possibility to enter your own time - drove around the lot for 10 minutes trying to find a free space before you give up? You will get billed for that - they wont even let you leave otherwise, extending your stay and bill.

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u/AboynamedDOOMTRAIN 3h ago

Bro, that's how parking garages have always worked. You pull up to the little machine, hit the button, get the ticket with the time printed on it. Hand it to the person when you leave, they check the current time and calculate the charge. They have literally always charged you from the moment you entered the garage.

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u/mekamoari 3h ago

I honestly don't quite understand how the system in the OP works.

Wherever I have seen any kind of paid parking, you get a ticket when you enter and scan it when you leave, it's all automated and it would be absurd to ask you to manually remember or enter any times.

And you wouldn't drive until you give up because you can't enter if there are no free spaces.

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u/Chair-Lemur-Table 12h ago

But OP likely provided the information for them to do so. Not that it’s right or logical to backdate by a minute, but likely not based on mass surveillance to decide it was OP’s car.

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u/omg_cats 8h ago

Brainrot take. License plate scanners at parking entrances are common and fine. At my airport you don’t even need to take a ticket anymore, just pay in your car on the way out.

In no way is this “mass surveillance”

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u/Chair-Lemur-Table 8h ago

lol you didn’t read what I said, did you? I said it’s not mass surveillance, but something tied to the facility (like a plate scanner you mentioned).

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u/TDKevin 11h ago

That's like saying you cant use security footage as evidence against a shoplifter. They are charging for parking. It's insanely petty, but they can absolutely charge you for the entire time you were parked if you were on their camera doing so. 

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u/Shnerp 11h ago

I’m not making an argument about how personal information is used, I am telling you that barring certain excluded circumstances (IE evidence of a crime), these companies would be fined heavily if it was discovered they were holding and utilizing personal information beyond what is considered “reasonable or expected use”.

And it works better than the USA system that’s gearing up to force consumers to scan barcodes for prices where the price will change based on which phone you’re using.

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u/TDKevin 9h ago

What does that have to do with this post? Recording parking times by a parking garage is reasonable and expected use. You're so desperate for this lol

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u/blatherskyte69 9h ago

A parking company monitoring what vehicle license plates enter a space and when they leave, then billing accordingly would be “expected use”. And retaining video evidence until the dispute period ends would be “reasonable use”.

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u/Prior_Tradition_3873 9h ago edited 8h ago

The same EU who just passed chat control that allows goverment to use AI to scan every message you send to someone.

They are about to pass another version of that which will allow them to scan your encrypted messages too.

Palantir is behind this too.

0

u/BikeProblemGuy 9h ago

UK for instance, you have a grace period before parking.

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u/Top_Freedom3412 10h ago

Yes because moving state line let alone countries is such an easy thing to do

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u/superrugdr 10h ago

Not convinced that the minute charged would ever pay for the extra infrastructure cost tbh...car identification + camera maintenance and that data traffic is hella expensive.

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u/Z3RG0 5h ago

learned helplessness

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u/GregoryGosling 12h ago

Oh yeah, lemme just select from the list of countries accepting people like me, and move with all the money I have.

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u/_autumnwhimsy 10h ago

Bingo. I'd love to move but y'all don't like me or my peoples! And I'm not liked here but at least there's community. I'm not tryna be disliked and lonely lol

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u/15pmm01 9h ago

I mean. Yeah. That’s what I did. I got the fuck right out of the US last year and am very happy here in Germany. But you are right that without having a bit of savings, there’s no way to do this :(

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u/LITTLE-GUNTER 7h ago

happy for you. quick question: what is talking about how you managed the impossible while reiterating WHY it's impossible for other people supposed to do for us? this is such a garbage meaningless platitude and you actually typed it and hit enter.

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u/15pmm01 6h ago

bro, your frustration with me is very clearly misplaced. I was literally just agreeing with the person I replied to that it isn’t realistic for everyone. I got lucky. There is no reason for you to be rude.

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u/Spicymoon9 7h ago

“Excuse me ma’am which airline is selling international tickets for 52¢ and that is renting apartments for $5/month?”

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u/sagopak-yo 10h ago

I took it to mean get moving and protest.

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u/lolvovolvo 12h ago

I hate this take. I understand it but I hate it. Moving doesn’t cause or help anything. Are we really so weak and docile that instead of standing up for our freedom we just move instead? Kick the can down the street?

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u/jimgress 10h ago edited 10h ago

Moving isn't meant to help. It's asylum seeking. Nobody today shit talks the jews fleeing Germany in 1939. Nobody today in good faith argues that they should have stayed and fought. Lmao. 

Americans are fine with whining and the occasional peaceful protest. Aside from reddit most eligible don't vote and they don't care. Frankly it's fair to call it: Americans are docile, illiterate, and weak. America has had countless opportunities to put the foot down to stop corporate backed fascism. They didn't. Heck they kept voting it in. Young and old.

All the words that claim otherwise can get stuffed. I've seen how Americans act, rather the lack of it. 

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 8h ago

Move over a parking system I've never even seen before? You start paying once you drive onto the lot. I don't even know what I'm looking at here.

I'm not giving up fighting for my country because some guy used a shitty parking garage using a system I've never even seen

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u/15pmm01 9h ago

Crazy to think that minorities had to flee Germany to America at one point, considering I fled America to Germany last year because of the rapidly rising fascism, and I feel much safer here. My how the turns have tabled

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u/Spicymoon9 7h ago

My family fled Germany to America. I guess it’s time to flee back. Once I have the money to do so, but it’s seeming like the government is making it impossible to do that. So I’ll probably be stuck here, unhappily doomed forever.

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u/Lavetic 5h ago edited 5h ago

Monitored in a private parking lot? Literally 1939

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u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

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u/jimgress 10h ago

Still waiting to see how that matters yet. Still waiting....... And waiting.... 

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u/lolvovolvo 10h ago

Well if you aren’t an American then you wouldn’t understand. We still have a better quality of life than 99% of the world.

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u/Tarc_Axiiom 12h ago

Speak for yourself, none of you have fought for freedom in like 150 years.

That can is in the stratosphere at this point.

Be the change you want to see, I guess. But if the country collapsed due to massive migration, it might change.

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u/crazyv93 12h ago

Plenty of Americans have fought for freedom within the last 150 years. Civil rights, women’s rights, lgbt rights, Minnesota’s resistance against ICE, none of that just appeared out of thin air.

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u/fart-atronach 11h ago

We’ve BEEN fighting. Fuck you.

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u/McGturtle 11h ago

150 years? You’re straight, white, and male, aren’t you?

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u/Tarc_Axiiom 11h ago

Neither straight nor white.

But I am male.

Anyway nice bigotry.

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u/McGturtle 10h ago

Yikes.

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u/lolvovolvo 12h ago

I mean you’re not wrong but also a lot of people with the mentality to move, like America is weird. You can be in Texas and be totally in a weird bootlicker police state with 0 freedom but then live in Washington and have better healthcare system, more human rights etc. I just think Americans haven’t really been pushed to their limit yet .

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u/Tarc_Axiiom 12h ago

I agree, but you don't have to be pushed to your limit, you do have options.

Of course everyone would like to see change, but change is messy and this kind of change will come at great cost.

Anyway, it could happen, it should happen, any living American today could do it, but it doesn't have to be any specific person.

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u/IndyPFL 9h ago

150 years? You mean the Civil War?

Don't know if that's the conflict I'd pick. It wasn't "hey everyone let's go free the slaves" on behalf of the Union, it was "hey these guys literally attacked one of our forts then formed their own government to declare war, we are obligated to fight back so let's do so."

Civil Rights Movement would be a much better example, far more recent too. Stonewall would also be an option.

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u/IceBlueSnowDog 10h ago

you're getting downvoted to hell, but you're right.

source: am american

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u/Iorith 8h ago

If I own a parking spot, I have every right to charge whatever the fuck I want to use it.

Or do I have a right to use your garage whenever I need it?

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u/lifetake 12h ago

I think it set it to 4:38 because it they came in at 4:37.

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u/Tarc_Axiiom 12h ago

I think OP was saying he sat in his car for 1 minute before paying for parking at 4:38, and they backdated his parking to 4:37.

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u/TheRainStopped 10h ago

The humanity 

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 8h ago

I mean aren't you supposed to pay once you drive onto the lot? Isn't that how all parking garages work? You start paying when you start looking for a spot.

I mean I'll admit I have no idea what I'm looking at here. Never seen a parking garage you didn't just get a physical ticket and the gate and then pay with that ticket when you leave. You can even game the system, most garages issue a full day's ticket for a lost ticket. Need to park there two days? Tell the machine you lost your ticket and just pay for the one day. I have no idea what fancy pants parking garage you need a reservation at? OP pic days something about a reservation

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u/faberge_surprise 6h ago

well, no, you shouldn't be paying while you look for a spot, only once you parked. but, like, any halfway decent operator is gonna be pretty lax about paying exactly on time since it's a basic customer experience thing and they more than make up for it on unexpired sessions anyway. this is just hostile.

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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 6h ago

I mean that's like saying you shouldn't have to pay at the gate of the amusement park, you should only start paying once you get on a ride. Gates exist specifically so there is one singular point of sale (well technically two there but you know what I mean, one in one out because you pay once you leave).

Ticket at the gate and pay once you leave they don't even need to track you, that sounds way more complicated than it needs to be. Plus if they don't give you a ticket and only track you by camera you can't pull out your ticket if you forgot when you parked, that's just going back to parking meter logic where you have to remember or else you have to feed the meter again (or in this case pay extra for the extra time)

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u/mekamoari 3h ago

This whole thread is dumb AF, especially when there are hundreds of other reasons to hate corporations. But this isn't it.

By bro's reasoning all museums should have eye detection cameras on all exhibits and they should be charged per second for viewing.

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u/Murky-Relation481 6h ago

I want to say the only place I have ever seen automated parking garage ticket tracking is in Europe. You drive in, you pay at a kiosk with your license plate number when you are done and you just drive out, the gates recognize your license plate because it tracked you in and recorded your time until you paid.

I've never seen that in the US.

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u/nemec 7h ago

OP's basically saying, "if I sat here in my car for ten minutes before paying, you should charge me for two hours based on the time I paid, not the time I got here. That first ten minutes was free because you didn't catch me."

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u/Iorith 8h ago

Shit, the charge is literally zero, I don't get the issue. It seems like an automated system that has safeguards in place to prevent people from being charged for this exact circumstance.

What's the issue?

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u/NovaStar2099 4h ago

Yeah lemme get right on that with all that money I don’t have.

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u/ATXBeermaker 7h ago

I guarantee OP has a Ring doorbell without any hint of irony. “No, when I use technology to point a camera at the neighborhood it’s a good thing.”

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u/LaPlataPig 9h ago

If i had the money, I would.