Supreme Court Says "No" to Surveillance By Private Company
Like a fine automobile, I can go from zero to outraged in about 5.6 seconds, here's yet another fine example. The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that a rental car company's policy of tracking customer speeds via GPS and issuing fines for exceeding 79 mph is illegal. Now before you jump on me, I think the State Supreme Court got this one RIGHT. My problem is with the people all around the blogosphere who are flipping out about this, taking the opposite view. No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster
Yes, there's a large number of bloggers who believe that private companies should be permitted to engage in all types of surveillance. It's bad enough when the government does this crap on occasion, but at least they can claim that it's (well most of it anyways) in the best interests of providing society with safety and security!
You gotta be joking me! Avis and Budget have no right to track how fast drivers are going, fining them for going over a totally arbitrary speed that they setup! It's a money making ploy and the Supreme Court was right to shut them down. Next thing you know we're gonna have Sprint and AT&T setting up phone taps to catch murderers . . . Only they won't throw them in jail, they'll fine them a couple hundred bucks.
These surveillance issues are becoming increasing absurd. What cracks me up is the people who champion each and every one of them, who try to argue that they will improve safety, or quality of life. I've taken the initiative of creating a new slogan for our country. It's familiar but adjusted. Goes a little something like, "America . . . Home of the FREE! . . . Unless you want to park a trailer that residents deem an eyesore in your driveway, then we're going Gestapo on your ass."
At this rate I give it about 6 months until a full-of-themselves City Council decides that they are going to start legislating the type of curtains that residents can hang in their windows because nutjob residents are complaining that some of the neighborhood's less-than-skilled decorators are "bringing down their property value".
posted by dwhit at 4/08/2005 02:28:00 PM
8 Comments:
Some people go to sites like CNN and MSN for their news updates. I however, go to "Ape Island" for my news updates...
4/08/2005 2:40 PM
Dwhit is dead-on here. "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
Ben Franklin said that, and he was right.
It has taken an extra 20 years, but George Orwell's predictions from the novel "1984" are becoming more accurate each day.
We're seeing it everywhere. Remote cameras with radar that anonymously track your speed and photograph your license plate, then mail you your ticket. That's one of the most egregious and outrageous inventions currently employed by several governments.
If it were truly an issue of safety, I could almost understand it. Never accept or condone it, but understand it.
However, Dwhit nailed it on the head...like the rental car companies, this isn't about safety, it's about money.
*Morris Workman
www.morrisworkman.com
workmanchronicles.blogspot.com.
dvtsports.blogspot.com
4/08/2005 9:17 PM
I disagree. Private company - their cars. They can do whatever they want. It's understandable that they don't want the people driving their cars to be doing it at an unsafe speed, and it's not unreasonable for them to expect people to drive under 80 mph. Give me a break.
4/09/2005 2:38 AM
Brad,
If that's the case why not simply put govenors on the cars? It would totally ensure that customers couldn't drive at unsafe speeds and certainly it would be much cheaper than a GPS tracking system.
4/09/2005 7:08 PM
Brad's right, it IS their company and their cars.
And we have the right to NOT rent said cars.
While they're at it, they certainly entitled to install video cameras to tape the drivers. After all, they have the right to ensure that their rentors aren't picking their noses and wiping it on the seat.
Also, I'm sure they wouldn't condone sex in the front seat, and have the right to record it and post it on the internet to discourage others from repeating the activity.
Oh yeah, I smell another reality-TV show coming on...
4/10/2005 3:46 PM
First of all, I'd like to say that I'm SHOCKED that dwhit is enraged over something minute, that's just SO out of character for him.
I actually have some internal conflict with this one, just like I do with banning public smoking in resaturants. Its a PRIVATE restaurant, so they can do what they want. BUT it affects the public health, so should it be able to be regulated? On the other hand, I personally would be THRILLED if no one smoked anywhere. Just like I'd be happy if they didn't drive 80 MPH.
With this situation, you already HAVE the government regulating speed, so I don't really think that the rental car company should be doing it. Also, if they wanted to do it right, they shoudl use that GPS technology to monitor the speed limit of the location and then see when people are speeding and then send THAT to the police station in the area, so they can go and give them a ticket. Yes, that's clearly the best way.
4/11/2005 11:29 AM
Oh no, it may be getting close to time for a smoking post on my blog. Maybe. Some stuff you just can't make funny though. And if it isn't funny, who wants to read it? I don't.
4/12/2005 3:22 PM
Like this comment for instance.
4/27/2005 6:26 PM
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