Sorry, but I don't have any links as I read the article a while ago briefly and I don't bookmark everything I find interesting or else I'd fill a 20GB with just bookmarks;)
Anyway, a GPS-based speed control system was being tested in Europe somewhere (Germany, I believe). It would locate the vehicle in relation to a stored map of the area, access the legal limit for that particular roadway, and set that limit as the maximum speed on the vehicle's onboard systems.
While the concept is nice - safer roads for everyone - it is actually legal to exceed the posted speed limits on occasion. Medical emergencies, for instance. Frequently travelling to the less desirable areas of town, I've also had to speed away from some... unsavory... individuals once or twice. I'm sure that an officer or a jury would be understanding in such a situation.
The bottom line, in my view, is that there is no way to tailor these tracking measures to be desirable in every situation. Sure, GPS for 911/panic situations is good, but location-targetted marketing is a rather odious concept to me personally.
One other consideration is this: insurance companies use everything they can legally obtain to determine premiums: credit histories, moving violations, place of residence, etc. in the case of auto insurance. They almost become biographers (in a sense). There were bills presented before the House and Senate to prohibit health insurance companies from using genetic data to adjust prices - I would hope to see something similar regarding GPS data. I feel that both types of data fall into the category of "too personal or sensitive to be available without a search warrant".
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Sorry, but I don't have any links as I read the article a while ago briefly and I don't bookmark everything I find interesting or else I'd fill a 20GB with just bookmarks ;)
Anyway, a GPS-based speed control system was being tested in Europe somewhere (Germany, I believe). It would locate the vehicle in relation to a stored map of the area, access the legal limit for that particular roadway, and set that limit as the maximum speed on the vehicle's onboard systems.
While the concept is nice - safer roads for everyone - it is actually legal to exceed the posted speed limits on occasion. Medical emergencies, for instance. Frequently travelling to the less desirable areas of town, I've also had to speed away from some... unsavory... individuals once or twice. I'm sure that an officer or a jury would be understanding in such a situation.
The bottom line, in my view, is that there is no way to tailor these tracking measures to be desirable in every situation. Sure, GPS for 911/panic situations is good, but location-targetted marketing is a rather odious concept to me personally.
One other consideration is this: insurance companies use everything they can legally obtain to determine premiums: credit histories, moving violations, place of residence, etc. in the case of auto insurance. They almost become biographers (in a sense). There were bills presented before the House and Senate to prohibit health insurance companies from using genetic data to adjust prices - I would hope to see something similar regarding GPS data. I feel that both types of data fall into the category of "too personal or sensitive to be available without a search warrant".