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Onstar and Privacy

OnStar Considered Harmful“A few weeks ago Slashdot ran an article on the privacy issues in EzPass. Some of the comments referred to other things Big Brother could do with GPS in cars, and now the New York Times has run a column on what else your car is saying about you (free registration req’d). From the article: ‘Aviel D. Rubin, the technical director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said that every new technology with the potential to invade privacy was introduced with pledges that it would be used responsibly. But over time, he said, the desire of law enforcement and business to use the data overtook the early promises. “The only way to get real privacy,” he said, “is not to collect the information in the first place.”‘” [Slashdot]

While privacy is a valid concern, I have to wonder how many people who are paranoid about people tracking their cars have cell phones? It makes me wonder who is supposed to care about the slightest details of the actions we make everyday. Besides, I personally wouldn’t object to law enforcement being able to track people with an equivalent procedure to a phone tap, and can see the benefits of finding lost kids, or help during medical emergencies.