Big Brother Watching Your Ride

I’ve waited months to write about this.  As my wife has been part of a “road users’ study” by the University of Iowa, I had to keep quiet about this topic and her involvement.  Now that her participation in the study is over, I can let my readers know what the government has in store for you and your automobile.  Get ready for GPS tracking of every move your car makes and government monitors knowing where you went and when you got there.  Scary… but true.

Cars are becoming more fuel efficient.  Even SUVs drink less fuel than they did a few years ago.  Couple that with changing travel, vacation, and spending habits, and you understand why people are filling up less at the gas pump.  Less pump sales equals less tax revenue for the state and federal governments.  That tax revenue often goes to road projects, but in many states (my home state of North Carolina included) it also is a cash pile that governments can steal from to fund other initiatives.  Governments don’t like to see their money pile dwindle… and will use any opportunity to tax us more.

Enter the “Road Users’ Study” or the Massive Big Brother Mileage Monitoring and Tax.

Participants of the “Road Users’ Study” in North Carolina and Iowa had little tracking devices installed in their cars.  For six months they had to enter how many gallons of gas they purchased at each fill up (this will be automatic in future cars as it will be integrated into the vehicle).  While users only entered fuel purchases, the little devices captured much more data.  Sending information back to study managers such as exactly when you drove, how long you drove, and where you drove to.  Leave for work a few minutes late… those watching the study would know.  Cross state lines to buy a lottery ticket… they would know that too.  Make a midnight run to the Krispy Kreme when the hot sign is on… yup, they’d know that too.

Every time your car moved, those managing the study would get the data — how long you drove along with GPS coordinates of the trip.  They even have the ability to tell how fast you were driving.  Scared yet?

During meetings about this tracking device, study participants were told about a government monitoring agency that would send you detailed statements each month along with the taxes you owed.  They could tell you when you crossed state lines to delineate which state’s fuel taxes you had to pay (along with federal taxes of course).  Like an itemized cell phone bill, every trip you make would be detailed in minutes and miles, with the end points defined and speed closely watched.

Get in a fender-bender?  Be prepared for this data to be used to determine whether you were at fault.  The data could also “voluntarily” be sent to insurance companies to determine your insurance coverage and rate.  Or it could be retrieved by law enforcement officials if someone committed a crime driving the same make a model car as you (so much for the 4th amendment).  Maybe Homeland Security will use this data to build profiles on citizens?  You know people who go to church every Sunday and the firing range once a month might be domestic terrorists… and people who protest President Obama’s health care plans are an angry mob… so why not capture that data and enter them on a watch list or worse?

They are already asking your neighbors to snitch on you for disagreeing with the administration.  What happens when they can monitor every “fishy” movement you make?

Forget the obvious problem that taxing per mile does nothing to reinforce the use of fuel efficient vehicles.  Forget that the tracking device can’t accurately determine who is actually driving the car (unless they install some weight or biometric sensors too).  All of that is cause for complaint.  But the real problem is the tracking information that will be gathered and analyzed by some government agency… the potential uses and abuses of which are mind-boggling.

For all those who thought President Bush stepped over the line by listening to one side of phone conversations with known terrorists… you haven’t seen anything yet.  Just wait until they literally know every single movement you make. All of the sudden public transportation sounds a bit more viable doesn’t it?