'Intelligent Transportation' threatens privacy.The federal government increasingly is taking over more and more aspects of the transportation infrastructure from both private firms and local governments. Speed-cameras and radio-frequency toll tags just aren't enough for some bureaucrats when it comes to tracking and tracing Americans on the highways. It seems a little-known agency ensconced within the Department of Transportation has a plan to track every car on every road, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program (ITSJ) Office was recently exposed by the weekly Creative Loafing newspaper in Charlotte, North Carolina: "[ITSJ] envisions a future in which massive databases will track the comings and goings of everyone who travels by car or mass transit." Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a couple months ago that every car in the United States be fitted with a "black box" - i.e., a data recorder taking note of "speed, seat belt use, braking and other factors." Travelers are increasingly trapped inside a federal monopoly. |
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