California has approved a new way to track everywhere you go.
Surely it won’t be abused by the government. Never!
California will allow all drivers in the state to have digital license plates, as Michigan and Arizona have already. Around 175,000 drivers in the Golden State had used digital license plates as part of a pilot program going back to 2018. This will let people customize their plates and renew their registration without having to enter a DMV building.
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It will also be used to address crime. Digital license plates can display messages indicating a car is stolen or there is an Amber Alert in the vehicle’s area. The plates also have built-in technology allowing them to be tracked at all times. In theory, this would help locate stolen vehicles. In practice, the state government, a law enforcement agency, or a hacker who is able to get the information will be able to track your vehicle at all times.
It is not hard to see how this could backfire. For now, drivers have the option to choose digital license plates or not, but the California Democratic Party loves to control every facet of residents’ lives. The state has banned plastic straws and plastic bags in some areas of life. What is to stop it from making digital plates mandatory while pretending to care about crime?
Giving the California government the ability to know where you drive your car also raises some concerns. California Democrats would be able to know if you drove to a gun store, for example. This isn’t entirely hypothetical: Earlier this year, the state leaked the personal information of residents with concealed carry permits, including their full names and home addresses.
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The price for convenience is often privacy. Maybe California will never mandate digital license plates, but the possibility will always remain. Maybe the information will never be hacked or leaked or used against residents, but the possibility is there. In our increasingly digital and virtual society, it is something people must be wary of, because many of these innovations come with their own costs.
