More happy fun surveilance from the Labour government

[spudtater]

Apparently the new scheme to cut emissions and ease congestion involves charging users per mile they drive. Which entails fitting a device to each car so that it can be tracked by satelite and charged accordingly.

Yes, the government wants to implement a scheme which will allow them to know where you've been, where you're going, and how long you stay there, for every car journey you make.

I am constantly astounded by the cheek of this government.

Now, let's go back to the problems that this scheme is supposed to solve: emissions, and congestion. And contrast our existing system, which is based on taxing fuel heavily:

1. With fuel taxing, not only are people charged for going on long journeys, they're also charged for using energy-inefficient cars. Woo! Green!
2. The more congested a road is, the longer a car stays idling in traffic, using up fuel. So the more congested the road, the more you pay in fuel taxes. Woo! Magic!

So the supposed benefits are completely bogus. And what about the negatives? Well, first of all there's cost. How much is it going to cost to manufacture and fit a tracking device for every single car in the UK? Especially as this is (*shudder*) a governmental IT project. And they certainly come in under budget and to specification, don't they?

And then there's privacy. With this and ID cards, the police will know who you are, what you do, where you live, where you came from, and where you are going. They won't need to ask for "your papers, please".

Government admits struggle to sell road pricing scheme — The Grauniad

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to scrap the planned vehicle tracking and road pricing policy. Over 200,000 signatures so far. Add yours!

Edit: while we're all signing petitions, I notice there's a new ID card petition on the 10 Downing Street site.

Comments

[dsky.livejournal.com]

You have to wonder if they are just seeing how far they can go. Future headline:

"Government monitors health of the nation for your safety!"

"The health minister unveiled plans today to implant all UK residents with a computer chip designed to allow the NHS to respond quickly to medical emergencies without anyone needing to report them. The chip monitors blood pressure and heart rate (and other risk factors like cholesterol) and notifies the nearest hospital if these indicate a health risk. The chip contains a GPS so that ambulances can locate patients in need of care. UK residents will be able to log into an NHS web-site to view personalised advice based on the information gathered on changes to their life-style which could improve their life expectancy."

[spudtater.livejournal.com]

"Government to barcode foreheads, hands of all citizens"

8^)

[dsky.livejournal.com]

RFID surely!