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Snooping by satellite
January 12, 2005 -
Big boss is watching
September 24, 2004 -
After years of struggle, GPS is taking off
April 9, 2004
The U.S. Department of Transportation has been handing millions of dollars to state governments for GPS-tracking pilot projects designed to track vehicles wherever they go. So far, Washington state and Oregon have received fat federal checks to figure out how to levy these "mileage-based road user fees."
Now electronic tracking and taxing may be coming to a DMV near you. The Office of Transportation Policy Studies, part of the Federal Highway Administration, is about to announce another round of grants totaling some $11 million. A spokeswoman on Friday said the office is "shooting for the end of the year" for the announcement, and more money is expected for GPS (Global Positioning System) tracking efforts.
In principle, the idea of what bureaucrats like to call "value pricing" for cars makes sound economic sense.
Airlines and hotels have long charged less for off-peak use. Toll roads would be more efficient--in particular, less congested--if they could follow the same model and charge virtually nothing in the middle of the night but high prices during rush hour.
That price structure would encourage drivers to take public transportation, use alternate routes, or leave earlier or later in the day.
The problem, though, is that these "road user fee" systems are being designed and built in a way that strips drivers of their privacy and invites constant surveillance by police, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Zero privacy protections
Details of the tracking systems vary. But the general idea is that a small GPS device, which knows its location by receiving satellite signals, is placed inside the vehicle.
Some GPS trackers constantly communicate their location back to the state DMV, while others record the location information for later retrieval. (In the Oregon pilot project, it's beamed out wirelessly when the driver pulls into a gas station.)
The problem, though, is that no privacy protections exist. No restrictions prevent police from continually monitoring, without a court order, the whereabouts of every vehicle on the road.
No rule prohibits that massive database of GPS trails from being subpoenaed by curious divorce attorneys, or handed to insurance companies that might raise rates for someone who spent too much time at a neighborhood bar. No policy bans police from automatically sending out speeding tickets based on what the GPS data say.
The Fourth Amendment provides no protection. The U.S. Supreme Court said in two cases, U.S. v. Knotts and U.S. v. Karo, that Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy when they're driving on a public street.
The PR offensive
Even more shocking are additional ideas that bureaucrats are hatching. A report prepared by a Transportation Department-funded program in Washington state says the GPS bugs must be made "tamper proof" and the vehicle should be disabled if the bugs are disconnected.
"This can be achieved by building in connections to the vehicle ignition circuit so that failure to receive a moving GPS signal after some default period of vehicle operation indicates attempts to defeat the GPS antenna," the report says.
It doesn't mention the worrisome scenario of someone driving a vehicle with a broken GPS bug--and an engine that suddenly quits half an hour later. But it does outline a public relations strategy (with "press releases and/or editorials" at a "very early stage") to persuade the American public that this kind of contraption would be, contrary to common sense, in their best interest.
One study prepared for the Transportation Department predicts a PR success. "Less than 7 percent of the respondents expressed concerns about recording their vehicle's movements," it says.
That whiff of victory, coupled with a windfall of new GPS-enabled tax dollars, has emboldened DMV bureaucrats. A proposal from the Oregon DMV, also funded by the Transportation Department, says that such a tracking system should be mandatory for all "newly purchased vehicles and newly registered vehicles."
The sad reality is that there are ways to perform "value pricing" for roads while preserving anonymity. You could pay cash for prepaid travel cards, like store gift cards, that would be debited when read by roadside sensors. Computer scientists have long known how to create electronic wallets--using a technique called blind signatures--that can be debited without privacy concerns.
The Transportation Department could require privacy-protective features when handing out grants for pilot projects that may eventually become mandatory. It's now even more important because a new U.S. law ups the size of the grants; the U.K. is planning GPS tracking and per-mile fees ranging between 3 cents and $2.
We'll see. But given the privacy hostility that the Transportation Department and state DMVs have demonstrated so far, don't be too optimistic.
Biography
Declan McCullagh is CNET News.com's chief political correspondent. He spent more than a decade in Washington, D.C., chronicling the busy intersection between technology and politics. Previously, he was the Washington bureau chief for Wired News, and a reporter for Time.com, Time magazine and HotWired. McCullagh has taught journalism at American University and been an adjunct professor at Case Western University.
See more CNET content tagged:
GPS, bureaucrat, transportation, police, vehicle
Congress does have an almost rabid attitude against the bugging of private citizens. This concept will probably go down in flames like several others in the recent past. I also doubt the ACLU will be idle on this one.
* You're probably thinking of the Fourth Amendment
* The two cases I cited dealt with tracking devices placed by the government on suspects' cars, not government property.
Eskie
This goverment has gone to far and is becoming more like the communist party every day.
Access No. 26
PAYING FOR ROADS
New Technology for an Old Dilemma
By Paul Sorensen and Brian Taylor. They point out that distance-based tolling proposals take into account the privacy of users:
??for example, drivers would periodically download billing data from the onboard unit onto a smart card, then upload the data to the billing agency via a card reader at a filling station or on a home computer. The transfer process would be divided into two transactions. The first would upload user identification and total amount owed. Then a second, anonymous connection would report the division of the bill to different jurisdictions. Jurisdictions would thus receive the appropriate revenues, but the government would never know where or when any individual had traveled, only the total amount owed.?
The whole article is at: http://www.uctc.net/access/26/Access%2026%20-%2002%20-%20New%20Technology%20for%20an%20Old%20Dilemma.pdf
Does this mean there can't be abuse of privacy? Of course not. Same goes for credit cards, IRS records, medical records, etc. But the benefits can outweigh the risks. We need a fair and reliable source of funding that accounts for the true value of transportation, including external costs and benefits. Ideally, the procceds would make public transportation more accessible and attractive. That's what's happening in London. No wonder the UK is thinking of expanding the London cordon and adding distance-based fees nationwide.
It means some government big wig needs a raise.
I don't even own a car and I still think it stinks.
What happens when one of these spy chip equipped vehicles strands campers who decide to spend the night in a canyon (again, out of sight of the satellites) and die while attempting to hike out to civilization?
What kind of idiot dreamed up this system?
Perhaps "pre-bug" vehicles will become popular among outdoor enthusiasts and tunnel commuters.
I even mentioned the Department of Transportation as being one of the likely agencies to put this through: www.cyberwolfman.com/id_chip_implants.htm (one of my older pages, so not very fancy).
The bad thing is, they'll probably do it, and few people will try to stop them, much like what happened with the Real ID Act that I tried to warn people about (www.cyberwolfman.com/blog_2005.htm#may_10_2005).
*Sighs* Maybe it's because of all the fluoride in the drinking water (www.all-natural.com/fleffect.html )that makes people so docile and sheep-like...
- CyberWoLfman
implementation is very bad and even more troubling is that the
mostly civil engineers who are behind it don't see the
implications of the privacy concerns.
There is a much less intrusive way to create a pricing
mechanism. Use RFID and smart toll booths. If your RFID is
invalid, system takes a picture and you get a bill. This is the
same sort of thing users have for bridge tolls today. The ID does
have privacy implications too but at least you are not being
tracked all the time. And following a few rules you get a much
better system.
Only monitor on paid roads, as opposed to all the time.
Presumably paid roads could be limited to major roads and
highways.
Offer users a cash option that they can get at a gas station so
users can operate anonymously.
Let's forget all my patriotic reaction to the incredible dilution of our constitution for a minute. Let me address the bottom line for you bottom feeders ... Have any of you even considered the vast impact on our economy? Anybody out there work a toll booth? Find a new job loser. This is computer generated billing, humans need not apply.
Seriously, you mean to tell me that you are willing to let some government quack access information that informs them how far you have driven and pay a per milage fee for that? I have a four wheel drive toy that I take off road. Should I pay milage for driving over rocks? How about if I'm playing around on the trails that I've blazed on my own property? I guess that should be added to my "fee" as well. I pay taxes for the vehicle at time of purchase, when I buy fuel, and I pay a fee every time I register the vehicle. If I travel on a toll road, I pay a fee. I pay local, state, and federal taxes. Now some of you think I should pay more? Truly and without question, you are insane. I am terrified for your future, and mine.
Dismantle your 4 wheeler, recycle the parts, and let the trails revert back to the way nature intended!!!
DON'T WRECK OUR ENVIRONMENT!!!!
You're the spouse, or children of a prison inmate who's serving times in a state, or in a federal prison. You're a spouse of a parolee who just served years on a felony charge. Your vehicles has one of this tracking device which was secretly installed there by the police. The GPS let the local police department, the county sheriff and the state department tracks every locations you have been in to.
One summer. You decided a trip to LA from the San Francisco Bay area for a short visit. You brought along with you your 4 children. After you've done your shopping and sightseeing in Hollywood with your children, one of your son suggested a trip to the Dead Valley because he heard so much about the place. You and your children spent the night before in a local motel in LA so you would have a fresh start in the early morning sun.
One hour drove into the rural area of the desert. Your vehicle quitted running right in the middle of nowhere. The motor oil was drained by a suspious person in the parking lot at the motel you and your children spent the night.
You didn't plan on staying in this hot and dry desert for long so you didn't have much drinking water prepared for yourselfe and for your children's need.
At the end. You and your children might or might not got out of this mud and you all might died from this incident but that's not what I'm trying to point out here. What I'm trying to point out here is that you do not want your police department and or the DMV to keep track of your whereabout. Whether you are a government official, someone who've never committed a crime in his life. Or a criminal, family members of the 3 millions prisoners serving times in the collection systems. It'll never be your advantage if someone is monitoring every of your movements.
I don't believe the police in this case is at its concerns for your safety. This is all about "police control" "we're under the police state", and "jobs and paychecks" for the police and its affiliates.
The companies that does the satellite GPS services and the police affiliates makes billions out off our taxes dollars from the state and federal government. We need to let our lawmakers know that the GPS on our vehicles could only contribute to incidents such as I've described above in this article. It'll get more people under the harassment from the police and money goes to feed these police affiliates and their family for a better living. What do we the average citizens get? Our civil liberty is being violated on a daily basis.
Do something before it gets worse.
like my daddy used to tell me who cares about iraq or even The US for that matter. I care about one thing and one thing only the armerican peoples.............................................................................................................MONEY.Ahhh it seems like yesterday me and bin laden were performing an abortion after a long day of gay bashing.
The president took an OATH, to SUPPORT and DEFEND the United States from it's enemies and that's what he's doing, and you want him IMPEACHED for doing his job?!?
Thank GOD, Clinton isn't in power. If he was, we would would have turned tail and ran from the Terrorists!!
that is no longer for and/or of the people.
Not only does this VIOLATE PRIVACY, but it continues on to
insure that the middle class and poorest of this nation bear the
heaviest weight.
Sadly America is dying and it's doing so quickly thanks to our
politicians who believe the only use for the Constitution and Bill
of Rights is as toilet paper.
The GOVERNMENT does NOT care that you like to wear a feather-duster on top of your head when you kiss your wife (or girlfriend...or BOTH) goodnight! It's a little weird that you like to do that, but there's nothing wrong with it, so why worry that the government knows your doing it!
The ONLY people who are worried about the government "looking in" on them are Terrorists, and other Criminals. Your average law abiding citizen has nothing to worry about!
I'm more consurned about businesses having infomation on me... I mean, I had to give Cnet my first and last name....now why do they need that for me just to post a reply on this subject!?!?!
Patrick
Look up near the traffic lights on every major intersection and note the video cameras.
This is like being a frog placed in cool water with a fire below.
However, this frog has felt the heat. I encourage you to look around and pay attention.
Bruce
I would like to know how much money was contributed to the campaigns of the morons who approved the idea by the owners of the Silicon Valley companies that are gearing up for mass production of these manatory devices?
As with any technology, it can be easily defeated. There will soon be a market for boxes that: A). Block any signal leaving the device (wrap it in aluminum foil), and B). generate an RF signal that makes the GPS unit think that it is actually communicating with Big Brother and his pals down at Gestapo H.Q.
If you actually have a need to transmit your location - just pull the "Eye-Patch" off the GPS unit to resume transmissions as designed by our new Social Engineering Department of the Treasury.
I realize that this may seem to be an unrelated tangent, but this is just another reason why a Line-Item Veto for budgetary expenditures is needed on our tax returns - which gives us true taxation with representation. If we were able to decide not to fund idiotic proposals such as mandantory GPS tracking of everyone in the country, our taxes would go down, and without money to FORCE it down our throats, the proposal would quietly disappear.
With our current system of taxation and representation, politicians are free to promise to have our best interests in mind while campaigning, but are easily bribed into enacting fiscal nightmares - and what do they care? It isn't THIER money that they are spending - it's OUR money that is being wasted on crap like this on a daily basis, and there isn't a damn thing that the average US citizen can do about it without breaking the laws enacted by the same corrupt politicians.
I wonder how the participants in the Boston Tea Party would be treated in today's legal system?
Would they still be heroes?
America used to be a place to live, a place where you had freedom. Now everything you do is recorded. In new york and the tristate area there is a thing called EZ Pass it was created for easyer travling through a toll booth, yet thats not the truth. Anybody with a brain knos that big brother is monitering that. The government says we have freedom, freedom isent free. the government want to know where you are all the time. Now they have computer ships that go in yor arm that store every thing about you in it. The united states is becoming a place where you dont wana live. I'm a realist, lets all stop blaming the presidedt, but lets face the facts. The world is changing, we have arabs in the bushes waiting for the next 9-11. We have the A.C.L.U. making it imposible to have anything christin in our lives. Soon the baby jesus will be called "the holiday infant". This is insanity. Imagian getting a speeding ticket in the mail. Hey maybe its just me I'm a kid i'm 16. But lets face facts. There are camras every where. You cant get away with anything thies days. Soon you wont even be able to go anywhere with out a computer up ur ass. Maybe you guys dont know this but there already trying to moniter where you are Via cell phone. So they already have this in the works. The United Arab Emirates is starting to look better every day.
So, since a lot of public transportation is not good and poor end up living far away from work, their cost increases, while the rich live downtown (Chicago for ex) and don't even need a car.
Really good... lol
- Another "kill the poors" initiative?
- by aabcdefghij987654321 December 26, 2005 3:16 PM PST
- so... get the taxes down and pass down cost of travel to those travelling.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (43 Comments)So, since a lot of public transportation is not good and poor end up living far away from work, their cost increases, while the rich live downtown (Chicago for ex) and don't even need a car.
Really good... lol