A Redditor stirred up a storm by exposing creepy unsecure surveillance cameras including one in Los Angeles allegedly featuring a GND identifier. The camera had been password protected by the time we learned of it, so we don't know for sure if this really is a camera correctly identified as belonging to the Gang Narcotics Division of the LAPD. If it is then someone in IT blew it big time. Once Redditors started flooding these cameras with traffic a bunch of them were password protected or taken down entirely.
As of now the following cameras are still online and unprotected:
- http://166.143.114.105:8081/viewer/live/en/live.html
- http://166.161.65.219/viewer/live/index.html?lang=en
- This one has presets labeled "Home" and "sidewalk http://166.254.217.55/viewer/live/index.html?lang=en
- This one is in someone's closet http://69.145.207.54/viewer/live/en/live.html
- http://166.249.150.13:8081/viewer/live/en/live.html
- http://166.159.167.7:9000/viewer/live/index.html?lang=en
- Always watching people in a park http://166.143.35.40:8080/viewer/live/en/live.html
- Some trailer park http://166.141.97.184:8081/viewer/live/index.html?lang=en
- A rural storage unit http://166.159.210.217/viewer/live/index.html?lang=en
Creepy does not begin to describe how creepy this is. This Orwellian invasion raises important questions:
A) Who but the cops would have the money to purchase these expensive cameras (https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/11/dea-and-ice-are-hiding-surveillance-cameras-streetlights/152724/)?
B) Who but the cops would have the legal authority to install surveillance cameras on public telephone polls?
C) Who but the cops would configure cameras like these just to watch specific homes and businesses?
D) Who but the cops would be among the possible answers for each of the above questions?
Obviously these are government cameras. Some of them are not attached to poles, so technically they could be the work of a private investigator or some other type of stalker. A PI/stalker would not be able to place all these cameras all over the place. Clearly someone with deep pockets, an interest in watching specific buildings, and the legal authority to put cameras on telephone poles has something to do with all of this. We feel really sorry for some of these people, especially the person whose closet is being secretly recorded. We wish we knew where they were but IP lookups only give general areas. Some people suggested the above address for the alleged GND camera. I will write two more posts to properly profile two places with confirmed addresses.
To see screenshots from these cameras check out the PDF uploaded with this report. You will no doubt be instantly struck by the poor quality of the images. It is shocking that the government would dedicate so much time and money for cameras that produce footage of such poor quality that you cannot make out faces or license plates. If they are going to use these in court they will need witnesses to say, "that grainy figure is me and that other one is him." This waste of resources should outrage even the most pro-cop tax payers.