Dash cams have been around for a long time, but their utility has chiefly been to record what's happening right in front of the vehicle, at minimal resolution.

Dash cams have been around for a long time, but their utility has chiefly been to record what's happening right in front of the vehicle, at minimal resolution. The result is not a comprehensive data feed of everything happening, but merely an eyewitness of events. Not many people see the "data", and the dash cams & their data are (mostly) not used beyond some basic purposes. On the other hand, the license-plate scanners [0] are higher resolution, pointing in every direction, are also attached to road infrastructure (numerous bridges and buildings), and their purpose is to collect and compile data which then goes into a massive, shared (among the executive branch) system ... in a way, more invasive than a giant "Google Analytics" for public roads. After all, Google Analytics doesn't make it easy (possible?) to see visitors' IP addresses, and even an IP address doesn't tell you the likely human behind it. Therefore, to avoid leaving footprints for all these "Little Brothers" to see, it's necessary to not drive an owned car on roads that may be adjacent to many bridges, or certain buildings, or may happen to have a police car on them. ---------- [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognit...