Several states are looking into fitting GPS transponders in new cars to track where you drive. Their reasoning for this is so the government can tax the miles you drive instead of relying on the diminishing revenue they are getting from the gas tax since people have begun to drive more fuel efficient cars. While at first blush taxing the miles you drive instead of how much fuel you burn seems to make since. If you drive more miles then the other guy then you are causing more wear and tear on the road regardless of how fuel efficient your car is. The problem is how to track the miles you drive. Apparently not content to rely on the honor system and allow motorists to report their mileage when they renew their car registration (or check the frickin' odometer) certain politicians want to hook a GPS up to your car and track your mileage.
I'm not even going to get into whether we should be taxed for gas or for miles driven (check out MileHive.com for more), there is a much bigger problem with this scheme. The government will be able to track you everywhere you go. Of course government lackeys say that the GPS unit won't track you in detail and that law enforcement will not have access to the information, see the article in the Washington Post. The government supposedly doesn't have easy access to your private communications either right? Ever heard of a subpoena? Even if you don't believe that the boys in suits and dark glasses are surreptitiously logging every little thing you do, even a third grader knows that all law enforcement needs is an "anonymous tip" to get a subpoena and your private information in their greasy little hands.
The Oregon Department of Transportation employee in charge of that states project, James Whitty, dismissed privacy concerns by comparing it with the tracking capabilities of cell phones, stating that it hasn't deterred people from purchasing new cell phones. HELLO! You can turn off the locating system of your cell phone or just turn the phone off. If you really didn't want to be tracked you could leave the phone on and stuff it under the seat of a train heading to B.F.E. You wont have that option if the government requires you, by law, to allow your travels to be tracked. Disabling the GPS unit for any reason would likely be seen as an attempt to cheat "the man" out of his taxes and be punishable by law.
We have already given away too much of our privacy and freedom in the name of safety. Let's not do the same for the sake of smoother roads. Contact the lawmakers in your state and let them know that you DO NOT APPROVE of being tracked by the government, for any reason. There has got to be a better way to fix our infrastructure without stomping all over your civil rights.
See also:
5280 Denver's Magazine
MileHive.com
Washington Post
