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License Plate Tracking for the Average Citizen
Wired News is reporting that big-brother license plate tracking systems may soon be available to the average citizen. Privacy advocates, however, worry that personal information and associated movement could be used inappropriately by marketing companies. From the article: "Bucholz, who designed some of the first mobile license plate reading, or LPR, equipment, gave a presentation at the 2006 National Institute of Justice conference here last week laying out a vision of the future in which LPR does everything from helping insurance companies find missing cars to letting retail chains chart customer migrations. It could also let a nosy citizen with enough cash find out if the mayor is having an affair, he says."
This is really big brother.
Mindless hyperbole makes you look like a tin-foil hatter. This is nothing like Big Brother. The point of the telescreens in 1984 was to eliminate private discussion, and, therefore, dissent, by placing them everywhere, even in people's private homes, by law. How the fuck does having people see where you drive do any of that?
Not every loss of privacy is automatically like Big Brother. You embarrass real privacy advocates when you do this. "Think of Big Brother!" is the privacy tin-foilers equivalent of "Think of the children!" Get a grip. This may by a bad thing in terms of privacy but it's not even remotely like Big Brother.
- Driving a car is a privilege, not a right.
- Driving a car is a public act, so no one can have any expectation of privacy.
It's time to start cracking down on car usage, given how much ecological damage cars do. When driving becomes less and less attractive, maybe the people will see the light and demand practical public transit!
Massachusetts. It figures. A state which already has loose morals is also home to crooked cops.
And people wondered if Massachusetts's recent problems accepting American morality would have any effect on law and order. I guess that's been answered.
(For those who don't know, Massachusetts recently refused to debate a measure to ensure the sanctity of marriage, instead delaying it until next year. Instead they argued the incredibly pointless, like whether or not official state documents should be accessible to blind people. It's really not all that surprising that Massachusetts is home to crooked cops when you consider the politicians they have there. Their senior senator is well known for killing someone while driving drunk, and their junior senataor lied about war injuries to gain military medals. Not a state I'd like to live in.)