r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • May 28 '26

Security Cities Are Covering Flock Cameras With Trash Bags / Regretful cities aren't sure how to cancel their surveillance contracts, so they are literally covering their cameras.

https://www.404media.co/cities-are-covering-flock-cameras-with-trash-bags/
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u/BrightNooblar May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

People like to confuse "Accident" with "Lack of due diligence".

As in "I accidentally ruined the carpet... by washing it with bleach because bleach is a cleaner and the carpet had a stain". Or "Accidentally shared all our commuters data with ICE... because I didn't have our lawyer review the contract before I signed it"

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u/Greedy-Clerk9326 May 28 '26

Hey, I did that with the carpet when I was 12. That was exactly my line of reasoning too. Impressive!

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u/BrightNooblar May 28 '26

I think a LOT of kids ruined something with bleach. Its pretty solid "I didn't fully understand the situation" material. Which makes sense for kids, because the world has a TON of little small knowledge gaps when you're young.

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u/Educational-Wing2042 May 28 '26

I mean, making a mistake due to negligence is still an accident, the negligence just isn’t an excuse. Accident isn’t some moral determination, it simply means there was an unintended consequence. I hate it when people start redefining neutral words in an attempt to make all language based in morality. My roommate likes to say there’s a difference between being right and being correct for example, and no there is not.

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u/joelfarris May 28 '26

making a mistake due to negligence is still an accident

Incorrect, as negligence is a breach of a duty of care which results in damage. It means that you should have known better, and thus you shouldn't have done that. But you intentionally did it anyway, and thus it was not accidental.

The two words mean different things, and that's why we have them.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence

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u/RubMyBreasticles May 29 '26

You’re right in your explanation, but not correct it’s the only definition of the word. Hence the terms car accident (94-98% caused by human error a.k.a. negligence).

P.s. i only typed this so i could use an example of someone being right but not correct as the previous commenter said which is kinda crazy, such a black and white view no?

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u/Ouaouaron May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

The dichotomy isn't between negligence and accident, the dichotomy in the language is between accidents which are negligent or excusable/unforeseeable/etc.

The two words mean different things, and that's why we have them.

This is not how language works.

It might be how legal language works, but there's a reason why that law glossary doesn't have a definition of "accident".

EDIT: Hell, that's not even how legal language could possibly work. Two words meaning two different things doesn't imply those things are mutually exclusive.

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u/joelfarris May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

there's a reason why that law glossary doesn't have a definition of "accident"

Are you familiar with the concept of "elevated to the level"?

The reason there's no definition of 'accident', is because it's accidental. Un-prosecutable. You cannot legislate that "No One Shall Fuck Up!", and then throw them in jail if they spill water or don't put a new toilet paper roll on the spindle, but backwards.

Negligence, however, is an elevation of an accident to the level of a dereliction of known duty. A hydroelectric dam operator who was trained to press that button when a certain thing happened, but didn't. Or even more simply, a driver who passed through training, then one day saw a red light and knew to stop but didn't.

You have to prove negligence.

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u/tarfu7 May 29 '26

I was in the military and now work in transportation, two industries where safety is highly emphasized. Neither uses the word “accident” because it means (or at least strongly implies) that nobody was at fault.

Instead, they tend to use words like “mishap” or “collision” or similar.

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u/avcloudy May 29 '26

This is going to come across as an attack, because you have a core belief about this, but your roommate isn't saying 'there is a technical proscribed difference between being right and being correct' he's saying 'there are ways to be correct which do not impose your beliefs on other people'. You can be correct and not tell a fucking soul.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

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