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From 2006 Britain will be the first country where every journey by every car will be monitored
Is it just me, or is this becoming a scary place to live? While on some levels I accept that the car has broken society, and mobility for criminals is a large part of this problem, I’m not sure that being watched everywhere I go is a price I’m prepared to pay. 
Anyone wonder whether they are listening as well?
9 Comments
Hmm, dont like the idea of being watched like that personally but at same time can’t drive so doesn’t affect me at the moment - just wait ’til they put cameras on buses.
As for listening in, they dont have to - all they have to do is visit blogland and we hand them our lives on a plate
Sceptic … moi? never 
Lin, our local buses do have cctv cameras on them already. Plus plain clothes detectives patrolling (though I suspect this is on the late night buses back from Nottm).
Other half and I were having a very cynical discussion about this article yesterday Jax. I can see this information being used in all sorts of ways in the future. My cynicism stretches to the point where in the future, we will all have indentichips inserted in our persons from birth so we can monitored full time. These identichips will, of course, replace ID cards and the first people to have them will be criminals and those suspected of criminal activity. We are on a long slippery slope…..
Police National Computer is run by PITO. No I’ve not heard of them before either.
PITO website
I’m never convinced about claims for full knowledge from government databases, too many people with fingers in the pie of the design, and coded by sharks so it wont actually work!
But I do agree that the intent is not something that I would agree with. There is the freedom element for individual drivers but perhaps more important is the cost of developing , maintaining and managing a system like this to gather intelligence on a small number of people who might commit a criminal offense.
Marketing fear makes us close our eyes and ears, shut down our brains and open our wallets. Now that is scary.
When they started talking about chipping cars for taxing them, i was amazed there wasn’t an instant outcry about public privacy. It seems rather more scary than even a database to be honest. Imagine when they start being able to check up on whether you’ve driven to a babysitting job, or use evidence of car trips in court in divorce cases. people will steal cars or have falsely register ones just to avoid being monitored.
Of course, i haven’t actually read the article you’ve linked to, so that could be what it’s about!
It’s no wonder that the gov want to try to sneak through controls over who can withdraw their kids from school to HE; just look at how this story has spread like wildfire throughout our online *community*. Heck, we are a dangerous bunch of freethinkers, can’t have too many of the population coming into contact with us, they might start to listen to us!
Claire your *cynicism* is widely shared sadly. Blogged similar the other day - albeit in a sleep deprived ranting loon kind of way
Must blog the letter I got back from dfes yesterday…
Two possibilities occur to me:
1) The PTB are so stupid that they think criminals aren’t smart enough to use false number-plates.
2) The PTB are not that stupid, and are (as usual) making excuses because their genuine reasons for this stuff don’t sound so palatable.
I know which one I think is the case.
Viewed from another angle - wouldnt it be useful if the police could track your car if it were stolen?
Dont know about car chipping but I do recall an idea I had a few years back - a chip in the licence/key or something that meant the car wouldnt start if you did not have a valid licence. I was really pissed off with someone I knew at the time who had been banned after drink driving and still drank beer and still drove. Should we be free to be totally irresponsible?
I think I know the answer to that one….;-)
TBH, based solely on my experience of being rammed on a number of occasions by readily traceable vehicles, which the police couldn’t be bothered to do anything about, no, it very probably won’t be any use at all if your car is stolen.