San Franciso's scofflaw squad - the team that tracks down those who have five or more unpaid parking tickets - has a wonderful new tool. They can simply drive down the street, and a camera system provided by ACS Inc. automatically scans the license plates of parked cars looking for violators. The system can handle as many as 250 plates per hour, Rachel Gordon of the Frisco Chronicle reports.
Unfortunately, Gordon's article reads like a press release and she completely fails to note any of the possible downsides of this or similar systems, such as what wonderful new systems might be developed in the future. For instance, since some license plates are too dirty or too askew to be read, why not install RFID chips in them? Or, how about simply doing away with the need for the scofflaw squad entirely by giving the State direct access to an override switch in the car? Or, what about using the same technology in surveillance cameras to look for stolen cars and fugitives? The mind simply reels with all the possibilities no doubt to come.
Posted to Privacy at December 27, 2006 06:21 PM
too bad we can't "scan" & identify 200 incarcerated criminal alien files an hour.
Posted by: Smitty at December 27, 2006 08:10 PM
Non-"liberal" coverage of immigration, Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...
Atom feed · RSS 2.0 feed · RSS 0.91 feed · WML
Immigration 2008a · Immigration 2007b · Immigration 2007a · Immigration · Immigration (6/05 to 12/05) · Immigration (1/05 to 6/05) · Immigration (8/04 to 12/04) · Immigration (before 8/04) · Immigration & Terrorism · Immigration & Driver's Licenses · Immigration & Consuls · Immigration & Media Bias · Immigration & Europe · North American Union
Blogging Across America
MultiCulti Madness ·
General Politics ·
Privacy ·
Miscellaneous ·
The "Peace" Movement
Los Angeles ·
California ·
Outdoors and sports ·
Celebrities ·
Wackiness ·
Inside Blogging
Iraq ·
Beltway Sniper ·
Terrorism & Extremism ·
The Saudis ·
Warblogging ·
War On Drugs
All Posts(links to each post by title)