As a slightly different tack, criminals are now using cheap GPS jammers when ripping off trucks with valuable loads to defeat the GPS-based tracking-and-reporting. The side effects of a jammer can be considerable, including bringing down cellular phone systems. And, of course, screwing up the GPS tracks of any innocent OSM mappers nearby...<div>
<br><div><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8533157.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8533157.stm</a><br><div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/22/car-thieves-using-gps-jammers">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/feb/22/car-thieves-using-gps-jammers</a></div>
<div><br></div><div>Cheers</div><div>b<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On 8 July 2010 21:28, John Smith <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:deltafoxtrot256@gmail.com">deltafoxtrot256@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<div class="im">On 8 July 2010 23:05, Jim Croft <<a href="mailto:jim.croft@gmail.com">jim.croft@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727670.900-virtual-prisons-how-emaps-are-curtailing-our-freedom.html" target="_blank">http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727670.900-virtual-prisons-how-emaps-are-curtailing-our-freedom.html</a><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>The only new thing in that article is the potential scale being hinted<br>
at, but this is merely an evolution of existing technology.<br>
<br>
As they point out, some people already have RFID transceivers<br>
installed in their cars for tolls, a few years ago cops in New York<br>
City lost their jobs because the company in charge of the tollway<br>
installed sensors along the length of the road way, not just at toll<br>
points so you could track where people went, and the cops in questions<br>
weren't where they should have been.<br>
<br>
The same company got subpoenaed by divorce lawyers to check up on<br>
cheating spouses.<br>
<br>
Same with GPS tracking technology, this stuff has been used for years<br>
to house arrest people in the US and also track sex offenders going<br>
too close to schools, but it was shown recently triggered alarms<br>
weren't acted upon, so no matter how well the technology is designed<br>
we can thank human complacency to limit the overall abuse. :)<br>
<br>
You also have various governments assuming that road usage can be<br>
tracked by GPS, this kind of system has been used in parts Europe for<br>
taxis for a while, the result is GPS signal is blocked or faked to<br>
abuse the system.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Ben Last<br>Development Manager (HyperWeb)<br>NearMap Pty Ltd<br><br>
</div></div></div>