“Digital surveillance on tourists and locals for commercial purposes raises civil liberty questions,” said Hyman. “This Chamber of Commerce surveillance is not driven by security needs. The consumer should be made aware of this surveillance.”
Myrtle Beach Begins Spying On Tourists and Locals. Technology outpaces ethics.
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Wmbfnews Video
Myrtle Beach leaders will begin cyber spying on all locals and tourists starting this May. After City Council voted on Tuesday to ban Free Parking in all downtown areas, those leaders are now working with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber to begin tracking all locals and tourists this month.
Cell phone tracking is made possible through resources from renewal of funds provided by an S.C. bill currently in session in S.C. The bill is designated as S1122. It is up for debate in the House Ways and Means committee this coming Thursday. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will begin spying on tourist and local cell phone users who visit their website, VisitMyrtleBeach.com, beginning this month. Once any cell phone user clicks on their site, even months or years previous to their Myrtle Beach visit, the Myrtle Beach Beach Area Chamber will get a PING when that tourist arrives in Myrtle Beach. The Myrtle Beach Chamber can then track that person while they are in town.
Working in concert with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber, the City of Myrtle Beach will also start scanning the license plate of every person entering the city limits this week. Once that license plate is scanned, city government can then begin following each local resident or tourist as they travel throughout the city.
The 1% tax legislative bill, first passed in 2009, was scheduled to expire in 2019. The bill funds the Myrtle Beach Chamber as much as $20 million in tourists tax dollars yearly. Insider S.C. politicians with financial connections to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce are attempting to quietly get the bill extended and rushed through in a cloak of darkness this Thursday, May 19th.
We reached out to Mal Hyman, who is running for U.S. Congress from the Myrtle Beach, S.C. district. Hyman is running against incumbent Congressman Tom Rice, a Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce insider who worked ambitiously to get the chamber legislation passed in 2009. “Digital surveillance on tourists and locals for commercial purposes raises civil liberty questions,” said Hyman. “This Chamber of Commerce surveillance is not driven by security needs. The consumer should be made aware of this surveillance.”
If our readers want to help end this, end spying on tourists and spying on local residents:
The bill is called Bill S1122. It is just now in debate in the House and Ways Committee. Below are the key Congressmen that are in committee discussing this bill.
EDITOR’S NOTE: THIS BILL S1122 and H5011 passed on May 18th, with a required voter referendum. Myrtle Beach voters will now decide if the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber should continue to be funded at Tax Payer’s Expense.
If you want to stop spying like this, call these congress peoples’ business or home number and tell them to KILL BILL S1122. There is no need to rush this bill. It does not expire until 2019.
If these congressmen are not called by Wednesday, May 18th the spying will only increase! Weekend calls are suggested. Don’t worry about their privacy. They aren’t worried about yours.
