KXAN has picked up on Austin Energy/Austin Police warrant less surveillance program. It’s good to see the mainstream press involved. I hope they keep pressing until they get answers.
Next time an Austin Cop questions you, ask for a lawyer. That is what Austin PD did when asked about their Austin Energy customer data mining program. Here is the quote from KXAN
An APD representative agreed to talk to KXAN Austin News about using energy
usage information, but just before the interview, the agency got a call from its
attorneys, advising to refrain from commenting on the issue.
Disgraceful, yet sadly typical. Government always chooses the path of least disclosure. Austin PD is not different. Even more disturbing is the quote from Austin Energy.
“State law allows us to share information with other governmental entities, and
APD is, of course, a city department,” said Ed Clark of Austin Energy. ” And so,
really and truly, we wouldn’t have a basis on which to deny information to them,
and on the other hand, we are interested in assisting them.”
Only a bureaucrat, or a fool, could be proud of the disease, death, corruption, and mass incarceration caused by the drug war.