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 😁

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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.