SMS campaign appeal for informants - to single out polluters

Public transportation operators in Jakarta might have to pay more attention to their vehicles' emissions as Jakartans now have a chance to complain by SMS about the fumes they are spewing out, reports The Jakarta Post, in yet another example of a distrubing new trend, where authorities appeal to citizens to turn into informants.

"Pollution in Jakarta is getting worse every day. Public participation is crucial to reducing pollution. That's why we have been encouraging the public to send us their complaints by SMS. Rather surprisingly, many Jakartans have actually responded," Ari Muhammad of Swisscontact told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Swisscontact is encouraging people to text their complaints to 0817-66-00001, stating how bad the smoke was, the type of vehicle -- taxi, bus, or mikrolet -- and the vehicles registration number.

Related stories on authorities appealing to citizens to turn into informants - not related to national security - which is understandable - but to polluting vehicles, anti-social behaviour (how can that not misfire?) or traffic offenses:

-- More Mobile Sousveillance - We've had some debate, both after the recent London attempted bombings and about a week before about the term "sousveillance", and whether it (or "coveillance" or perhaps "equiveillance") is appropriate for people keeping an eye on each other, particularly at the police's behest. (Mobhappy)

-- Pilot for police text alerts - Suffolk police are running the year-long pilot scheme, which uses the same technology employed by the Metropolitan Police to make appeals for information following the London bombings on July 7. Eventually people will be able to send picture messages or send in films of crimes.

-- Harlow council uses MMS to catch vandals - The town is encouraging people to take pictures of anti-social acts on their mobile phones and then text them to a special number along with details of where the vandalism has occurred.

-- Indonesia hotline to keep tabs on disease - Indonesia's health ministry launched a hotline to let the public report disease outbreaks and lodge complaints about health care using mobile phone text messages.

-- Snap a picture of a traffic offender - The Transport Ministry of Malaysia is inviting the public to help enforcement officers keep an eye on traffic offenders so that action could be taken against them. So the next time you see a traffic offence being committed, snap it on your handphone or camera and send it to the Hall of Shame section of a newly launched road safety website.

-- Framed! Photos taken by general public net errant motorists in Malaysia - Malaysian authorities have issued summonses to some 40 motorists whose alleged road offenses were exposed in an online Hall of Shame, a news report said Monday (Ausut 22, 2005).

emily | 8:21 AM | Citizens as Informants |
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