2 ms·

Do you drive a car? License plate readers and associated location tracking software are becoming increasingly commonplace. Are you also "helping to create" "t

• pdkl95 11y ago
  Yes, I have a car[1]. There is little comparison between license plates and cell phones. If you think they are remotely comparable, you don't understand how COTRAVELER works. Maybe I should revise my assumption that it was common knowledge on HN. License plates do not give away your location every few minutes. License plates only show a car's location, which may map to one or more people. License plates do not follow you into buildings, across different cars or other forms of transportation. More importantly, it is difficult to participate in modern society without a form of transportation, which is usually a car. The cell phone is absolutely not a requirement, even though a lot of addicted people like to claim otherwise. A landline has none of these tracking issues, and suffices perfectly well for most needs (which are different from wants aka luxuries). So yes, unlike with a car, if you choose to carry a cell phone, you are absolutely contributing to the surveillance state, and pretending otherwise doesn't make your culpability in it go away. [1] It doesn't see much use these days due to an unfortunate medical situation, but I would be driving that car if it was safe.