Manhattan 1984

Etherwalk writes "The New York Times is reporting on developments in the quest to charge driving fees for all vehicles headed below 86th Street in Manhattan. Notably absent from any part of the discussion is that a record is made of every car or truck that enters, together with the vehicle ownership information and the date and time of travel — either as part of EZ-Pass or in license-plate photos taken for subsequent billing."

Comments

Re:I have no problem with this kind of thing

[apodyopsis]

Rubbish.

The fact you purchased a gift for your mother would hardly be picked up by automatic number plates would it? It would be picked up by a check on your credit card history, but then police have been able to do that for years. The fact is that they only do that if they have suspicion on the their part of a misdemeaner on your part. And that is how the system works - when there is suspicion then the police data mine the CCTV, card, number plates, phone records, DNA and other databases to generate, support or disprove a hypothesis about the crime itself.

To imply that the police will be watching you smacks of conspiracy theory and paranoia - go put your tinfoil coated aardvark hat back on you wierdo.

There will alway be specific isolated incidents of abuse to the system - that is inherent in a blanket coverage system controlled by fallible being subject to the whims of human nature - but the simple fact is that the system works on a more general system. And it definitely solves and discourages crime. In that respect I am all for it and I will continue to deride the nutters who think that the government is watching their every move.

Re:Funny

[wilsonthecat]

The Congestion charge in London records your number plate and then you pay your charge online. I don't even think to wear my tin-foil hat when I'm driving through. Maybe some camera supervisor from Dagenham will steal my identity through my number plate, and I will be put in prison for 20 years! Or maybe nobody actually gives a crap about the number plates going through unless there is a security threat.

Re:Awesome!

[NoisySplatter]

Why tax everyone when you can tax the specific people that use the road?

Re:Funny

[bcharr2]

You must be referring to the "Right To Wear A Paper Bag Over Your Head To Ensure Your Movements In Public Remain Safely Anonymous". Sorry, that right didn't quite make it into the Bill of Rights.

For the record, the "right to privacy" you keep referring to actually states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Hmmm... that doesn't sound like the founding fathers were trying to accomplish anything resembling your suggestions. So evidently there IS NO freedom from being observed while in public.

Re:Awesome!

[operagost]

It certainly is far worse to track people who may be connected to terrorist organizations than to blow up, shoot, and behead innocent people. Far worse! Evil Westerners!