Feel Like Being A Neighborhood Snitch? There's An App For That!

from the pay-to-spy dept

Mon, Dec 20th 2010 9:29am — Mike Masnick

Remember how Homeland Security was working with Walmart to post creepy video messages urging you to spy on your neighbors? Well, the folks at Homeland Security ought to be thrilled with the new "Patriot App" -- which is a special (not free) iPhone app to help you spy on your neighbors. It's not put out by the government, however. Instead, it's just some company that thinks people are crazy enough to pay $0.99 to make it easier for you to "report suspicious behavior." Surprisingly, the app does also have a "whistleblower" section, where you can report government waste, or discuss whistleblowing with others -- just be careful not to pull a Wikileaks with it, or someone might report you to the authorities with the app as well. Still, while some folks are up in arms about this, it really seems like a silly app that I doubt too many people would actually pay for. Of course, with a name like "Patriot App," perhaps the US government could claim a likelihood of confusion that it actually had something to do with it... (and just to cut it off before it shows up in the comments: that last sentence is a joke).

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Filed Under: iphone apps, patriot app, snitch

20 Comments

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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:37am

I am amuse
I have to wonder what the Pandemic button does.
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Free Capitalist (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:40am

Learning something new every day...
FTA

The $0.99 app, named after the controversial Patriot Act brought in by the U.S. government after 9/11, is designed to �encourage active citizen participation in the War on Terror and in protecting their families and surrounding communities�, its makers Citizen Concepts claim.

Huh, $0.99? I always thought freedom costs a buck-o-five...

Who said the dollar is de-valuing!
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- Freak, 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:50am
  
  Re: Learning something new every day...
  It's still devaluing.
  
  It buys a lot less freedom than it used to.
  
  Used to be, I might pay $1.50 for a full 550 mL of freedom, but now my $0.99 only gets me a 225 mL
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  - Free Capitalist (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:54am
    
    Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
    Used to be, I might pay $1.50 for a full 550 mL of freedom, but now my $0.99 only gets me a 225 mL
    
    Frak, I need to read the labels on this stuff. Yet another reason to avoid Chinese made generic medications...
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    - Dark Helmet (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:56am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
      "Frak, I need to read the labels on this stuff. Yet another reason to avoid Chinese made generic medications..."
      
      Interestingly, Chinese freedom costs a lot less, but it's probably not made with quality materials....
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      - Berenerd (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 10:04am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
        ...and lead....
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      - Matthew, 20 Dec 2010 @ 10:05am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
        Chinese Democracy, on the other hand, costs $10.92 at amazon.com.
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        harbingerofdoom (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 12:20pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
        and much like democracy in china, its a bunch of crap.
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  - Joe Imperial Measures, 20 Dec 2010 @ 2:19pm
    
    Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
    Milileter?
    Milileter?
    
    You should be glad I can't get an iPhone yet, because you're obviously some kind of Canadian traitor.
    
    Real Americans use ounces!
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    - Freak, 20 Dec 2010 @ 5:35pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
      First of all, you're spelling it wrong. It's millilitre, not milileter.
      
      Second, I'm a scientist. Scientists use *intelligent* units of measurement.
      
      ;p
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    - Kaotik4266 (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 8:53pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Learning something new every day...
      And intelligent people use units that make sense. There's a reason they're called Standard International units.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu_illAgCPg
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Pierre Wolff (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 9:59am

More & more snitch apps are emerging
Another one in this category, though not put out by any gov't, is the "Drive Me Crazy" app which in effect lets users report on drivers. You can flag a driver positively (ie. courteous), negatively or use it to flirt, though w/a name like "Drive Me Crazy", I suspect that the positive reporting is not likely to be its primary purpose ;) Apparently, you can also leave them a message to their license plate #. Anyone can go into the system and register w/their license plate at which time it will tell them if they have messages even if they were not previously registered.

As with any of these apps, my concern is the lack of context and the room for abuse.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2010 @ 10:11am

I was playing a rather addictive game on my phone that gives you in-app credits if you install other games or apps on your handset. Some were legitimate, like the Google App. But one of the apps that gave you the most in-app credits was strangely this very app.

When I sent an email to the developer, Brooklyn Packet Co. asking about their app vetting process, the email bounced back. Maybe their email works now, but who knows.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Dec 2010 @ 10:25am

I think you also get a tin foil hat for that $0.99 as well (or you should).
I think the app also gives you access to your neighbors
http://www.wimp.com/spyfind
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Overcast (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 11:38am

Patriot App.. LOL

More like the Nazi App, TBH. Funny how everything that's being used to yank away freedoms and make us more like a tyranny is called 'patriot' - like the 'patriot act' - that any real Patriot would be appalled at.
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Anshar (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 12:30pm

In Capitalist America...
...app spys on you?
I wonder how long before the news gets out that while people are using this app to report on others, it's secretly reporting on them.

Yeah, I'm a cynic and a tiny bit paranoid. But then, I've always found irony to be the best way to predict the future.
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Cixelsid (profile), 20 Dec 2010 @ 4:22pm

Snitching is ok as long as you do it on your fellow citizens and not your government.
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abc gum, 21 Dec 2010 @ 5:02am

This just in:

Cell Phone providers profit from stalking.
Film at eleven.
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akston, 21 Dec 2010 @ 2:32pm

It's practically put out by the govt
Considering the increased privatization of the US intel complex, it's worth noting that the 'PatriotApps' founders are ex-DHS staffers and others. It's on their site.
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Ike Iszany, 30 Dec 2010 @ 5:56am

Douchebag driver alert
My friend and I had an idea for an app where you can report douchebag drivers. You see someone driving like an idiot you take a picture of their car and when they get ten alerts a cop goes and gives them a ticket.
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