>But in this case, if they couldn't plant the monitor, they could just follow him. He'd have no case. It's almost exactly the same loss of privacy. So why it su

>But in this case, if they couldn't plant the monitor, they could just follow him. He'd have no case. It's almost exactly the same loss of privacy. So why it such a big deal in the GPS case? The reason is that technology has progressed MUCH faster than law. What was not possible or expensive to do 50 years ago is cheap and easy now and can be done in a mass scale. So give some time for the privacy laws to catch up to the potential abuses. Eg. If a bunch of retail stores, corner shops and 711s got together to scan car plates using ANPR(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognit...) and upload to a server which will make it searchable for paid subscribers(think employers, spouses/BFs/GFs, parents, stalkers) of the site, would that be okay? After all, it's public data that they're gathering by just 'looking' on public roads. What would be your stance on this? And does it make it different if done by the government? If such technology were available when the constitution was written or amended early on, would such things be banned? The potential for abuse is immense, so there must be sufficient checks and balances. Eg. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Diotte http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Diotte