A GPS for x-mas could mean a driving violation

As the saying goes, technology can bite the hand that made it. Or something like that.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Global positioning systems and factory-installed "black box" event data recorders have been helping to create cases against those who choose to break the law.

The “unwitting self-surveillance” has been used to build a case against an arsonist, Scott Peterson and stalkers. At the same time, a man wrongly accused of speeding used his GPS to prove otherwise.

Many are upset that this technology is an invasion of privacy and that you can’t disassemble the recorders. Insurance companies are even using this technology to dispute claims.

"That's my problem with this, from the privacy perspective," John Soma, a Denver University law professor and executive director of its Privacy Foundation, said of event data recorders and of authorities reviewing the stored information. "The car comes equipped with it. They can't disable it. There hasn't been any meaningful legislative discussion of this or any meaningful notice that this is now in your car."

But courts found that defendants cannot plead invasion of privacy when travelling on publicly funded roads.

I find it rather ironic. If a GPS could get us out of a ticket, I doubt we would be concerned with “our right to privacy.” But when the tables turn, we cant help but be upset.

I don’t advocate the use of a car’s black box or GPS device over human eyes. In fact, relying on such could almost promote laziness. We shouldn’t rely on Big Brother to do the job of our publicly paid police force.

But we cant be upset when technology bites us.

-Erin