Big Brother IS watching. In the United States, a man was recently penalised because the satellite technology installed on his rental car recorded that he had exceeded the speed limit. What will be the impact of GPS technology on motoring in the future?
The idea of a Big Brother watching our every move and regulating our daily lives with alarming precision is far fetched… or is it? The rapid integration of global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and advanced monitoring systems into our daily lives posts a warning that George Orwell may well have been right about 1984, although in reality it will only happen 20 years later.
To illustrate this, in America a man was penalised after high-tech satellite technology, installed on the rental car he was driving, caught him speeding. Acme, the company that owned the car he was driving, uses GPS and advanced monitoring technology to track its customers’ location and movement. The system allows Acme to locate missing vehicles, while penalising customers for speeding helps to improve road safety and reduce insurance costs, the company said. The man lodged a complaint at the Department of Consumer Protection. He maintains that he was monitored without his knowledge, and is challenging the fine.
A new generation of sophisticated satellites is being developed to deliver precise tracking and high-resolution imaging for a range of purposes. Researchers John C Baker, Kevin M O’Connell, and Ray A Williamson have investigated the effect of new high-resolution commercial and civilian imaging satellites on personal privacy and national security.
Commercial observation satellites promise to bolster global transparency by offering unprecedented access to accurate and timely information on important developments. Unfortunately, the researchers believe not all earth-observation data purchasers have benign intentions.
The contribution to global transparency does not depend on a single satellite, but arises from the cumulative impact of a growing constellation of commercial and civilian observation satellites that are slated to become operational over the next few years.
International access to a large number of observation satellites using various types of imaging sensors will substantially enhance global transparency by increasing the chances that major events occurring around the world will be captured in a timely fashion. How will smaller events, like a motorist making an illegal u-turn or exceeding the speed limit on a certain stretch of road, fit into the picture?
While satellite navigation systems and satellite tracking systems are readily available on most manufacturers’ top-of-the-range models, it is conceivable that GPS systems, already available on hand-held mobile units, will become an integral part of the motoring industry.
A network of satellites will not only be able to track respective vehicles with pin-point accuracy, but also the route they follow and the speed at which a route is covered. Governments or other organisations could conceivably use information gathered by satellite positioning technology to enforce traffic laws and punish offenders. Similarly, such technology could also be used to survey individuals’ every move.
Thus, policymakers face a new challenge in taking advantage of the benefits commercial observation satellites promise while limiting the potentially harmful uses that can be made of their data. National governments will be critical to the long-term success of the commercial observation satellites because the abuse of such technology could encroach on an individual’s right to privacy.
“Governments can play multiple roles because they serve as regulators, patrons, customers, and even competitors in some cases. On the positive side, government policies and programs can promote the benefits of commercial observation satellites while limiting the chances that their imagery data will be used for harmful purposes”, the researchers concluded.
Big Brother may not be watching yet, but he’s busy setting up his equipment.
