https://news.yahoo.com/driving-somewh...140052644.html

Using automated scanners, law enforcement agencies across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate, according to a study published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union.

Big brother at it again.
Maybe in the future to raise revenue, they can charge suspicious spouses to track their cheating partners.

I wonder if they can help me prove where my car was on january 1st

Is there a story behind that, or was it rhetorical?

Soon we'll have to have license plates on our bikes, insurance and registration...

I'm really on the fence about some of this stuff. On one hand, yeh, I can see the technology being there to track the movement of so many vehicles, it's certainly within the realm of possibilities today. On the other hand, anyone who has dealt with police, the DMV, or the department of driver's services know how behind the times many of the places are, and many can't communicate with each other and maintain records properly, much less track all these cars. *shrug*

"Good news - You're not paranoid! Brought to you by Tinfoil: You can wear it as a hat!"

I also caught an article about TSA inspecting Valet parked cars at airports...

It looks like folks are already profiting from it:
https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...plate-readers/

The problem I see is, with reams of data, managed & evaluated by relative cretins, desiring to find malfeasance to justify their activities; incorrect conclusions and resulting actions are likely to follow. Something like this happened on a big scale, as I recall, a little over 10 years ago.

there was a claim against my insurance for a dui hit and run -- 1500 miles from where my car was when the incident happened

You don't need to have a vehicle with a license plate to be tracked. I have consulted on projects where local governments were using data provided by cell phone companies (they charged for it). This was used for much the same purposes that the license plate tracking information in the OP...

https://www.airsage.com/Technology/What-we-do/

I'm sure it would not take much to program the license plate cameras to snap pictures of bikers too.
If that doesn't work then new bikes will probably be sold with GPS trackers, for your own safety you know.

I'm actually amazed that bikes, unlike boats and other recreational "vehicles", do not require registration. In some ways, bike registration could be a good thing: money for more bike paths and lanes. But, OTOH, it owuld be a wee bit too intrusive.

Hopefully you don't use a debit/credit card.

Pragmatically my car gets me places faster than my bike in most cases. Yet because it requires registration and insurance in addition to expensive repair bills I find that I feel trapped by the need to have access to a car. This is one of the reasons my wife and I keep it to one car and I mostly commute by bike. The fact that I don't need anything other than my bike to get across town feels freeing. I don't worry about my bike starting in the morning. Worst case scenario, say a badly cracked frame, I'm a few hours on craig's list, and $150-200 away from being back on the road. Hopefully with an awesome new 80's or early 90's era work of chromoly or lugged columbus steel. This simplicity is part of why I find cycling to be an act of embracing my freedom. I also associate cycling with being 10 in the suburbs of Chicago and the freedom and independence my first dirt bike gave me. The freedom to go to the movies without my parents, to go to the pool in the summer and hang out with my friends all day eating lousy concession stand pizza and drinking way to much Dr.Pepper. The freedom to take myself to school without the bus, and stop at the bowling alley on my home in the afternoon. Every time I ride my bike to work now as an adult I get to experience just a touch of that feeling of freedom I experienced as a young kid. I fear that feeling would be lost if I needed to carry proof of insurance with me. Let the cagers carry the insurance and registration as they pass furiously trying to change into the lane that they are sure is gonna get them there a little quicker, and relieve them from the prison of a deadlocked rush hour highway.

I use a GoPhone (pay in advance) that is not in my name (don't ask how). It is only turned ON once or twice a week and rare emergencies. I feel anonymous for the most part.

Yeah, I'm currently not a huge fan of compulsory registration and insurance of cars, and I don't even own one.

If the battery is still in, it is still transmitting.

M.

This.
That's why I'm against anyone who makes such suggestions along the lines of "but its only $10 per year". Maybe it'll start off like that but once all then information has been collected (yeah these bunch of dudes have bikes, make sure to get 'em), the prices will inevitably increase (hey we goota cover our admin expenses). No one will suggest to take money from lower greenhouse emotions from bikes and plough that money into bike infrastructure.

Sometimes I think any one who suggests such bike fees to be government spies.

My windsurfer doesn't need to be registered because it's under 12 ft, my inflatable sailboat does because it's 14 ft (when inflated). If I were in Florida (where I got the sailboat from), it doesn't need to be registered because it's under 16 ft. However, it does have an optional motor mount so if it were used with a motor in Florida, it would then need to be registered.

My point is that States' rules differ, are somewhat arbitrary, and they can change. Almost all kayaks needed to be registered until a couple of years ago, now shorter ones don't.

It used to be that bikes in the City of Minneapolis had to be registered, but that's not the case anymore. That requirement ended several years ago. Apparently the police misused that information in the aftermath of a Critical Mass ride gone bad.

I doubt there are many cameras out in the corn fields I drive through anyway, but it has crossed my mind. That said, there are so few cyclists around here that it wouldn't be hard for them to track me when I'm riding either.

I don't think the cops have a system like that here. They can barely meet payroll, almost every quarter they're consolidating something or closing down another office.

I'm thinking IR led's on a helmet visor and maybe also along with the headlight and taillight could take care of that issue.

Also mostly if not completely unworkable and unenforceable.

A car is big enough to mount a plate on - where would you put a license plate on a bike where it wouldn't either cause massive drag and get snagged on stuff, or be so small as to be unreadable and therefore useless?

When a bike could be ridden by anyone from TdF winners to 4-year-old Katie down the road, what enforcement is there going to be. Is little Katie going to be dragged away by the police for straying briefly onto the road on a bike that wasn't correctly licensed? If not, what about 12-year-old Jim who knows he should get his bike licensed but figured he's only 12 and it doesn't matter? What about the down-and-out who uses a bike to get from where he sleeps to where he begs? What about the commuter who just doesn't feel like playing within the rules? At some point you have to draw the line, and then you have to figure out how to enforce both the law and the line (if the rule is over-16s have to have registration how do you prove that the guy you just pulled over is 17 when he says he's 15?)

Yet another good reason to say no to it. The chances of getting a government program that took funds from one specific source and channelled them to a specific project, without wasting most of it along the way, is probably about as close to zero as you'll ever get.

If it:

1) Finds a missing child, or
2) Prevents an unlicensed motor vehicle operator from driving and hitting us, or
3) Finds a stolen vehicle

I could really care less. Seriously, get over it. There's already camera's in the cities tracking you, who gives a rats ass if there's a camera on a POV tracking you. Unless you have something to hide..

Hypothetical ancillary benefits notwithstanding, tracking and collection of your personal information will be used to control you and to restrict your liberties.

I'd carry a transponder if each time I rode to work, a bike commuter incentive was added to my account. Kind of like EZ Pass in reverse.