GPS in everyday use

[pdgeorge]

This is mostly as a theoretical/future idea, however GPS has been getting more and more used.

I was reading the newspaper the other day and saw an article about a guy who was backpacking around alot of places for a year and his mum insisted he take a small credit card sized GPS locator that tracked where he was to within 5 meters. If it went away from his planned route it would notify his mum about it, the whole time she could see where he was.
I brought it up with a friend who told me about the idea that at some point people would simply get them implanted. They told me the idea was it would be a manditory thing for all people, personally i think thats a bit conspiricy theorist for me, since it seriously encroaches on peoples freedom. However the idea of it being done for people by choice would be better.

Personally, I like the idea of the credit card one for concerned parents/carers who want to look after people who are traveling overseas however beyond that I can't think of much use for it (have it stiched/hidden inside your wallet and if you lose it/it gets stolen you can find it again). The implant one has much less usefull uses I think. It has the same "parents looking after children" thing, with the added protection that wallets get stollen and as a result they don't track the person any more, also if a person is kidnapped they wouldn't keep the wallet at the same place as the person more then likely. Another problem I have with it is it leads to a scary thought of 'big brother' where people are watched for their movement. If they go to a certain group of places (IE: one suspected terrorist hide out, to another one, to a gun shop, etc.)they will be flagged and their movement will be watched. Theres other obvious issues of affecting peoples freedom but yeah, if I say it all there won't be stuff to bring up in disussion. If I was FORCED to have the implant, I would probably lose it in all seriousness, drink alot, stab myself with a knife where abouts it is then try and get rid of it myself (no matter how risky it would be I couldn't handle that sort of thing)

Concidering the credit card thing is out now, and the implant thing will more then likely come out at some point in the not so distant future (whether they even CONCIDER making it mandatory or not is another question)... what is your oppinion on how it can all be utilized? would you use it or know others who would? what would be the best way they could be the best way they could advance it all?

 

[Gooble]

An implant tracker would actually be incredibly useful in solving all crimes, especially if the data was recorded so that you could look back to a specific time and place and see who was there; for instance if there was a robbery in a shop at 10:22am you could just look back at the records, see who was at the location at that time, find out where those people are now and go and arrest/question them about the incident.

Would also be extremely useful for being able to catch people who the police know are involved in something but have no proof, like ringleaders of criminal gangs, terrorist suspects etc.

You would however have to insure the implant cannot be removed by implanting somewhere where it would be lethal/dangerous to remove, or otherwise incredibly difficult to remove. Though anyone who does remove it can be found and arrested becuase they removed it.

I would say however that only the police should have access to these records. Admittedly there is the potential for misuse of the information, but I'd say that the benefits would far outweigh the negatives.

 

[Lord George]

I keeep meaning to get one of those handhelds GPS's. Far too many times I've woken up to find I have no idea how to get back home. So yeah I'd like this idea, it beats walking round odd streets with a phone trying to co ordinate where the hell I am.

 

[pdgeorge]

I understand that it does have a large number of benifits in theory, on paper, etc. etc. however I feel it would be far too similar to filtering the internet.

Does the fact that the government can theoretically protect people from crime more efficiently warrent the fact that they would have a stronger stranglehold over it's populace? where what people said and believed didn't matter. All that matters is what the government wants and the people have to follow or be arrested.

If it were to be put into anybody, why not only people who have commited dangerous crimes (or crimes that suggest they may commit a dangerous crime later on). An armed robber gets caught, goes to jail then is released. After a certain period of time the implant can be removed. The more likely they are to repeat offences the longer it stays in, they can get an idea of how likely they are to be violent/dangerous by observation while in jail.

Sadly this also connects to the idea of weapon control a bit. Some places (IE: victoria, australia) have extremely tough weapon policies, you can't even have a pocket knife on you for any purpouse, this includes a mother cutting up apples/fruit for her kid while out in public. If someone is going to break a law (IE: stab someone) they arn't the sort of person that would leave their knife at home because it would be bad for them to take it with them, they will take it with them and keep it hidden, that or they will make an improvised weapon out of anything around (far easier then most people think)
It's similar in the way that innocent people have to live with the restrictions/observations/etc. where it's inconvenient for them and it's likely they can get in trouble needlesly because of over the top methods. Someone who would break the law however would more then likely find a way around the implant etc. (for example: magnets, heavy metals, I don't know what would be the best way but there would be ways to render the implant useless, they will find it and they will do it. Exactly the same way pirates find and work ways around any form of anti-piracy software added onto games that people who are honest etc. are hindered by in some form or another)