New Wireless Technology keeps eye on traffic conditions

[bobolito]

Project aims to track cell phones for real-time traffic data
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/ptech/1....motorists.ap/

Traveler Information Derived from Cell Phones Begins to flow from Innovative Public-Private Partnership in Baltimore
http://www.delcan.com/prod/index.php?id=295

[Jay2TheRescue]

I had heard about a system like that 2 or 3 years ago they were talking about instaling it on the DC beltway, but it never happened. (That I know of)

[Fire14]

These paragraphs are what came to my mind right away & I don't like the idea of this.
Big brother is getting bigger all the time & soon without anyone realizing it, we will be caught into a legit tracking system on every move we make, and everyones fears will be realized.

Cell phone monitoring already is being used by transportation officials in Baltimore, though not yet to relay traffic conditions to the public. Similar projects are getting underway in Norfolk, Virginia, and a stretch of Interstate 75 between Atlanta and Macon, Georgia.


Officials considered using cell phone monitoring but opted against it, partly because of privacy concerns.


"We felt very strongly we had a bullet-proof privacy policy" with toll-pass monitoring, Rentschler said. "On cell phones, we could never do that."

As with cell-phone monitoring, the information received from the Bay area's toll scanners is anonymous. It's also encrypted and destroyed daily. But the local transportation commission went a step further, mailing 250,000 metal bags into which motorists could place their toll devices to prevent them from being monitored along the roads.

Cell phone users could accomplish the same thing by turning off their phones.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) suggests that someone should notify cell phone owners that their phones are being monitored for traffic data.

Privacy experts also worry that the traffic monitoring could later evolve into other uses -- perhaps to catch speeders or fugitives.

That's because each cell phone has a unique serial number, in addition to its call number and a code that indicates its service provider. A cell phone company must always be able to track the location of its phones in order to know where to route a call.

"It's a mission creep issue that would be of most concern to consumers," said Lillie Coney, associate director of Washington, D.C.-based EPIC. "They may start out saying we want to know if there's a traffic problem and then take that information and start using it for different purposes."

[bobolito]

It really goes both ways. Imagine all the crooks that will try to run away from the authorities unsuspecting of the fact they are being tracked. And let's not even mention the sleeping terrorist cells that can be uncovered through this technology.

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by bobolito

It really goes both ways. Imagine all the crooks that will try to run away from the authorities unsuspecting of the fact they are being tracked. And let's not even mention the sleeping terrorist cells that can be uncovered through this technology.

This is true and this is where some of this technology is both good and could be exploited by the goverment that is bad, it is kinda like the patriot act and where it can benefit our safety & security, but can be used beyond the intended purpose.
It just means someone keeping an eye on the govt. to make sure it doesn't start getting used on the innocent in there regular everyday lives.

[bobolito]

That's a good idea. Just like the government has watchdogs, there should be watchdogs for the government itself.