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by athrun 1439 days ago
The counter-argument to this is that driving a 2-ton machine capable of killing people is not a fundamental right either.

I'm not saying that this isn't a privacy overreach and I think there are other things we can do to limit speeds (road design, etc.), but I think there's a reasonable balance to be found here.
1 comments
noduerme 1439 days ago
Then take away the need for "real ID" to board planes and trains. Without the ability to travel freely, you end up very quickly with this:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-61793149

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athrun 1439 days ago
AFAIK there's no need to show IDs to board a train in Europe (maybe some EU countries have other rules there, I don't know).

For planes it will depend on whether you're crossing a border or not. Sometimes you get ID checks on domestic flights but that's because of airline policies (ie: fraud, insurance) rather than internal border control.

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noduerme 1439 days ago
In the US, passport or biometric ID is now required for all domestic flights and intercity trains. YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE.

Of course it is required in Europe. Where it is not required, you are already known. For example, if you live in Berlin you have no possible hope of getting to Brussels to attend a protest without every movement you make being put into a database.

In America, we do still have one method of transportation which is not entirely watched - if your car doesn't broadcast its GPS location. Of course there are cameras everywhere, but it is possible to visit a lover or a brothel or whatever without being tracked and blackmailed if you take proper precautions. You? You have no hope. Don't ever think about meeting a lover if you want to run for office one day.

The only people who can run for office in a state with no privacy are the people with access to erase their data from the database.

But of course, we should give up this one method of obfuscation of our movement -- because we might be speeding in the car. If we did so we would be in a complete prison.

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CaptainZapp 1438 days ago
> Of course it is required in Europe.

That's just outright wrong.

On the last dozens of flights (it may be well in the 100s) within the Schengen area I hardly ever had to show id. And if so it was due to airline policy and checked at the gate.

You badge in automatically by scanning your boarding pass into the secure transit area and then once again fully automatically at the gate.

If you're admitted to the flight by ground staff on airports without automated gates they hardly ever check your id.

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