Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Big Brother is Watching Your Car

Leave it to Washington to take a bad idea and make it worse.

They started out spending your money on a plan that would allow governments to charge you a special tax for using roads during rush hour. It's turned into a way to track you wherever you drive.

Washington's already given two states grants to test GPS-tracking of private vehicles. The idea is that they could then bill you for driving during rush hour or charge you higher tolls. The idea being to encourage you to take public transit.

But it's gotten worse.

The tracking would be free of any privacy restrictions. In essence, governments from -- local to federal -- would build a database of everywhere you go.

There's another $11 million research grant from Washington coming down the pike.

Will they then start taxing you for every fattening stop at McDonalds? Or alert the cops to wait for you when you stop by the corner bar? (cnet.com)

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