Where is Matthew going?
How anonymous do you feel, in your car? I live in a rural setting, and anyone that has made the link between me and my ride knows where I park and (I guess) where I might be going. It’s an Island thing, and there’s even an appropriate reference from our own imaginary redhead books.
However, it seems that in other parts of the world, tracking your car is serious business. Given that a duly registered vehicle has a unique number on display, there is technology that scans and reads it into a database, as you move through “the fair”. And, since much of the actual hands on is done by companies that sell the data to others, the US government did the natural thing. Rather than duplicate the effort, the data has been purchased (licensed?) for use. You go by a plate scanner, and a note goes off to Big Brother.
Overkill in my area; we are probably less than 100K worth of bits and bytes. The neighbourhood watch can keep things in view. But in some of the larger cities, they see those kind of volumes in any given morning.
Since certain departments want to know where everybody is (and where they are going), having your car tracked across the nation is seen as worthwhile. A little infringing on privacy, perhaps. We know that our secrets are their secrets, so why not keep a finger on the pulse. In basic terms, they know where you are, and they’ll know where you’ve been. Forget anonymity. After all, if you aren’t doing anything wrong, etc.
