Here we go - one more step toward Big Brother watching our every move, our every waking moment's activities. And in February 2009 - Big Brother will be in your living room via DHTV - able to monitor everything going on in that room.

Oh, the argument for allowing GPS for this purpose is a sound one, there's no doubt about the law giving scumbags who aren't randomly psychotic (which does NOT sound at ALL like the guy who gunned down this woman) pause to think about whether or not they should discontinue their harassment. But - it IS a first step, a first justification, for using GPS to monitor the every day citizen's movements around the world. And to use those movements for... what end?

There are few limits placed within the law to govern how the data being collected can be used by the monitoring agencies - private companies. We already know that via the internet our virtual movements are tracked second-to-second - and now Big Government (and Bigger and Corrupter just do not HAPPEN within the United States than it does in Illinois) will have created a toehold on following you any where. I can easily foresee the implementation of cheap RFID chips within our license plates coming next, and traffic tickets issued if the vehicle does... well... anything that the maze of traffic laws says is illegal - without any means of knowing if that sudden swerve into the oncoming lane was to avoid killing a child, or hitting that deer that popped out of a cornfield, for example.

Already GPS is being used to track millions - that is MILLIONS - of people on behalf of their employers, and has been used as a grounds for someone going from being gainfully employed to becoming part of the ever-swelling numbers of those out of work. Truckers, sales people, service technicians - they are ALL under 24 hour surveillance by their employers.

Watch closely what happens next with GPS monitoring - your privacy and ability to move around freely are under threat.

New law OKs GPS to enforce protection orders - Chicago Sun-Times -

[King Rod - Google]