currently illegal in my home state for the government to put cameras on the
highways, but it looks like that could be about to change. A neighboring state has DEA
cameras in locations on its highways that take pictures of the front and back license plate
of passing cars. These are supposed to be used to help stop drug trafficking and to locate
stolen and wanted vehicles. Now, this sounds perfectly legitimate at face value, but you have
to consider that this would give the government ability to basically track the movements
of people. Some people may contest that the information will not be used in anyway but to stop
criminal activity. There are 2 issues with that though. First, rights to privacy can be a slippery
slope. If you let one thing get by then soon it will be another thing and another and so on. I
don't mean to sound like and alarmist or a conspiracy theorist, but we must be careful about
the powers that we give our governments. If we don't, then George Orwell's 1984 will become
a reality. Second, law enforcement has a surprisingly bad record of deciding what should be
considered acceptable as far as who to watch out for. There have been cases of police putting
anti-war protesters and such on watch lists. Even undercover investigations and police could
be considered threats to our privacy. Now, I am not saying that police and law enforcement
personal are bad, it is just that we need to draw the line and clearly state what law enforcement
can and cannot do in order to carry out investigations and uphold the rule of law, lest we become
like Nazi Germany or countless other examples. Sometimes you have to wonder whether Orwell
was paranoid, or psychic.
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