(we should almost hire a 12-year-old to help us out with this)
January 2, 2020 6:16 AM   Subscribe

 
So, politely, then?
posted by TheHuntForBlueMonday at 7:44 AM on January 2, 2020 [6 favorites]


At least three military police officers (at CFB Comox in British Columbia, CFB Petawawa and CFB Kingston) were assigned an unusual task: wander around their bases, smartphones and notepads in hand, searching for virtual Pokemon infrastructure.

Heh. There are a whole bunch of areas of CFB Kingston where you can just drive on in. But if you were hanging around for any extended period of time, you'd probably get checked out eventually. Friends of the family used to live on Crown land where you had to drive through part of CFB Kingston to get to. Many years ago, my dad managed to take a wrong turn in the dark on the way in and we were driving around the base for I don't know how long while my parents argued about it.

But, as the signs say, accès interdit.

It took more than three years for the Department of National Defence (DND) to provide the documents requested by CBC News.

According to legislation, the normal response time should be up to 60 days.


Yeah, on a more serious note public access to information from federal agencies and ministries is in a dismal state.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 8:00 AM on January 2, 2020


There are a whole bunch of areas of CFB Kingston where you can just drive on in.

This was how it was on most military bases in the U.S. before 9/11. In fact, it was like this even on U.S. bases on foreign soil -- I remember my unit hastily putting together a roster to man the guard shack of our little kaserne in Germany (that had nothing remotely sensitive that had previously required access control) in 1998/1999 because of increasing threats from al Qaeda.
posted by Etrigan at 8:16 AM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]


My favorite tweet in reaction to this story: "This place is not a place of Pokemon. No highly esteemed breed is capturable here..."
posted by tavella at 8:33 AM on January 2, 2020 [24 favorites]


"Plse advise the Commissionaires that apparently Fort Frontenac is both a PokeGym and a PokeStop. I will be completely honest in that I have not idea what that is," wrote Maj. Jeff Monaghan at CFB Kingston.

A military that’s not trying to cover up gaps in their Intelligence. Refreshing!
posted by GenjiandProust at 8:36 AM on January 2, 2020 [10 favorites]


public access to information from federal agencies and ministries is in a dismal state.

Yes, sadly. It seems that some agencies just delay and deny. Only the dogged investigators at the Office of the Information Commissioner force the issue through. Canada Post took two years and several denials before sending me my ATI request.
posted by scruss at 10:00 AM on January 2, 2020 [1 favorite]


When a man was stopped on CFB Borden, documents show he was playing Pokemon Go and told officers "I have to beat my kids [get more points]."
Well that's a really important clarification.
posted by axiom at 10:10 AM on January 2, 2020 [15 favorites]


Rear Admiral Newton addressed the Pokemon generally in an email, writing: "Life and work are best accomplished if there is good fun, health and friendship.

"If Pokemon Go enables these values, while we protect our interests, then we all stand to marvel at this intersection of technology, gaming and health."

posted by thecjm at 12:19 PM on January 2, 2020 [6 favorites]


Yeah it was interesting how different bases reacted to this.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:23 PM on January 2, 2020


While I acknowledge that there are security breaches that need to be addressed, I thought the majority of response to the issue were rather wholesome, especially this part -

Meanwhile, at CFB Halifax, officials tried to harness the game for their benefit. An email to Rear Admiral John Newton made a series of recommendations...
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:06 PM on January 2, 2020 [3 favorites]


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