According to an article on thenewspaper.com, tracking similar to what we saw in Enemy of the State could very soon be more real than you might want. Definitely more than I want. From the article:
Private companies in the US are hoping to use red light cameras and speed cameras as the basis for a nationwide surveillance network similar to one that will be active next year in the UK. Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the top two photo enforcement providers in the US, are quietly shopping new motorist tracking options to prospective state and local government clients.
[…]The technology would be integrated with the Australian company’s existing red light camera and speed camera systems. It allows officials to keep full video records of passing motorists and their passengers, limited only by available hard drive space and the types of cameras installed. To gain public acceptance, the surveillance program is being initially sold as an aid for police looking to solve Amber Alert cases and locate stolen cars.
Since I can buy Gigs and Gigs worth of flash memory for well under a hundred bucks, I am guessing that hard drive space is not really a limitation. As noted on Slashdot, the information gathered by cameras could be used in conjunction with existing road sensor data to keep very close tabs on virtually anyone. Very scary stuff IMHO. If you agree, I strongly suggest that you contact your state and local government representatives and let them know that this is not acceptable to you. If you don’t, please leave a comment and let me know why.
