For IP: Tracking devices required for hassle-free travel?

[Brett Glass]

Dave:

I'm in Manhattan this morning, where -- due to the Federal government's
extremely vague claims of increased terrorist risk -- the police are out in
force during the morning commute. They're diverting traffic from some
normal commuter routes (such as the upper deck of the Queensboro Bridge)
and are requiring vehicles to slow down at checkpoints along others (such
as the approach to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel). We've seen such checkpoints
at Denver International Airport in the past, and have observed that they
appear to have little effect other than slowing traffic and inconveniencing
travelers. What they could possibly expect to be able to detect, during a
second's glance at a moving vehicle, is unclear.

What's particularly disturbing about the measures we saw today, however, is
that authorities appeared to be pulling over, and singling out for more
thorough inspection, vehicles which were not equipped with New York's
electronic "E-Z Pass" -- an electronic device which allows vehicle owners
to be charged automatically for tolls and parking.

Your Interesting People list has, in the past, featured articles describing
the increasingly widespread use of E-Z Pass records to track unfaithful
spouses, employees, etc. We've seen examples of this sort of invasive
"mission creep" before -- in particular, in the increasingly widespread use
of the Social Security number for identification purposes of all kinds. But
this is something new: It appears that now, when the Federal Government
declares an "orange" terror alert, an electronic tracking device has become
a requirement for hassle-free travel.

One can only wonder if this is the start of an era in which one is
detained, harassed, or otherwise branded as a suspected terrorist if at any
time one pays via anonymous cash or is unwilling to have his or her
movements continually traced and recorded.

--Brett Glass


[Just like the lack of a frequent flyer number will get you looked at hard
at airports djf]

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