April 17, 2007
Eye in the sky
Ars is reporting that California has just authorized the tagging of gang members with GPS devices. This follows up "Jessica's Law" which authorizes felony sex-offenders to be so tagged even after their parole is up.
I'm pretty sure I don't like this, as the implications for privacy are pretty stark. I don't have any problem with 24-hour surveillance of convicts, and doing it on the cheap is even better. But for people who have served their sentence... How much of a step is it from there to people who are merely suspected of a crime? I don't have anything to hide, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with the government tracking my movements.
Additionally, given the state of security in government organizations, the odds of this tracking information falling into non-government hands is unacceptably high.
I agree, this seems to be a step in a dangerous direction with a technology that has positive uses in criminal rehabilitation.
I couldn't find anything on how long the gang members would have to wear the GPS devices. I seriously doubt it would be the same as for sex offenders.
GPS has many positive uses in this area, and the appropriate and inappropriate uses really remain to be seen. The fun part will be seeing how the government will regulate uses and misuses.
Posted by: stu at April 17, 2007 4:13 PMso what do you make about the case with Vtech? the warning signs, redflags, and alarm buzzers have been ringing about this guy for some time. just a dude who finally cracked up?
Posted by: jCave at April 19, 2007 8:28 AM