Last Tuesday, Google unveiled a proper self-driving car, with no steering wheel, no brakes, no pedals. Google expects these no-hands-on-wheel cars to hit the roads in 2017 and it is up to us to craft the laws and policies that will govern their use. Such decisions cannot be left for tomorrow. As Google's working prototype reveals, the robocars of the future are here. And because people have a long history of projecting personal freedom and autonomy onto automobiles, they will have an innate understanding of the stakes.
This essay at Wired suggests that we have had a communication problem in convincing mainstream society of the dangers of pervasive surveillance. The author makes a case that the car metaphor made literal is the way American society will finally come to grips with the issue in a visceral, understand-it-in-your-gut way.
(Score: 1) by Max Hyre on Tuesday June 03 2014, @07:44PM
Millions of drivers are willing to let the authorities know their (or at least their auto's) location, probably in real time. So far, they aren't issuing speeding tickets based on in/out times, but it's gotta be on the way.
I've avoided it based on my privacy concerns, so I got a real jolt when, the last time I passed over the Henry Hudson Bridge [wikipedia.org]: they'd removed the cash toll booths, and assured me that if I didn't have an E-ZPass, they'd read my license plate and bill me by mail. Luckily, it's easy to avoid the bridge (just cross on Broadway), but the writing's on the wall.
(Score: 1) by khedoros on Tuesday June 03 2014, @10:07PM