The Government Wants to Track Your Car With GPS

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

The Patriot Hack - Great Title for a Great Post

I just read a really great blog post. It's actually an article reprinted on one of my favorite blogs, that isn't mine ;) In short the article written by Martin Eberhard, a co-founder of Tesla Motors, details some very useful tips on protecting your privacy online. Some of the comments after the article are quite thought provoking as well. Follow the link at the bottom of this post to the Blog of Tim Ferriss, author of my current favorite book The 4 Hour Work Week.

Click here for Martin Eberhard's article on privacy!

Fake Spyware Detectors and Government Traps

Who do you trust?

According to some people, everyone is in on "it". Is that software really deleting that file? Are proxy servers really anonymous or did the government publish that website?

Good question and I wish I had a convincingly definitive answer. Many businesses and law enforcement agencies employ what are known as "honey pots" - websites, servers or other computers intentionally left with weaknesses in their security in the hope of luring hackers and others of nefarious intent into trying to break in and then the website can glean intelligence on who's been trying to sneak in. This practice is legal and probably necessary in the fight against the criminal element. However, sometimes a hiker might step in the bear trap, so to speak. If you find yourself in a situation where you think you might run afoul of "The Man", get the hell outa there QUICK! Follow the tips elsewhere in this blog to clear your cache and wipe your file slack and swap/page file.

It is relatively well known that there is now spyware out there disguised as privacyware, so it's not too big of a stretch to think that, just maybe, that the proxy server you are using is actually some government shadow operation tricking people into giving them easy access to their comings and goings on the net. What better way to catch people trying to hide something than to offer them a free or easy way to hide it?

I don't necessarily subscribe to this theory but it is reason for pause. So you ask...

Who can you trust?

Since there are so many people out there concerned with their privacy these days it's hard to believe that any "spy" sites could last for very long on the net before somebody "outs" it, and spyware programs disguised as anti-spyware are exposed pretty quickly. Try to keep up to date on Usenet postings, bulletin boards, and blogs. Don't take any ONE persons word for something. If you want to surf anonymously use a proxy server such as Anonymizer, AND a free or pre-paid ISP.

I would be very suspicious of any website that sells privacyware and spyware at the same time. Look for companies that have been around for awhile. If you suddenly see a popup window screaming that you have spyware and it's not from a program that you installed yourself, DO NOT click any of the buttons on the popup. Use Windows Task Manager to close your browser. To do this in Windows 9X and XP, simultaneously hold and release the "Ctrl" "Alt' and "Delete" keys. Select the "Applications" tab, select the program to close and click the "End Task" button. Next scan your computer with a spyware detector that you do trust, you do have one installed already, don't you? My favorites are always the free versions, I like Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware Personal. Sometimes it's too late for a spyware detector, or worse, you didn't install one until it's too late... ouch!

Unfortunately if that's the case it's beyond the scope of this article but there are a LOT of people that post instructions for getting rid of these atrocities. Just Google the name of the offending program or call a tech.

There are many blogs and forums dedicated to these topics and the privacy community is a generous bunch. The real die-hards still frequent privacy newsgroups and bulletin boards, and you can ask the folks there what they think of a particular solution. There's always someone out there willing to help, just to further the cause of our privacy. But remember not to take any ONE
person's word on a subject, even mine. After someone posts a reply to your query check back again in a day or so to see if anyone else has something to say. And if it sounds too go to be true........