Tag: PRIVACY

Fourth Amendment Wins in the Baltimore Plane Surveillance Case: NMA E-Newsletter #654

“Allowing the police to wield this power unchecked is anathema to the values enshrined in our Fourth Amendment,” wrote Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals Chief Judge Roger Gregory in late June. The case, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle v. Baltimore Police Department, involved the use of aerial surveillance that continuously tracked and monitored the […]

Jane Jacobs and the Mid-Rise Mania Part 1: NMA E-Newsletter #651

by Randal O’Toole, from The Antiplanner blog Editor’s Note: The following content, reprinted in three parts over this and the following two NMA e-newsletters, is presented with permission from Randal O’Toole’s The Antiplanner, a blog whose tagline describes its point of view: “Dedicated to the sunset of government planning.” O’Toole is a senior fellow with the Cato […]

License Plate Readers are Ticketing Cars for Polluting the Air

From Joe Cadilllic, co-writer of the NMA Street Surveillance Watch and editor of the Mass Prviatel Blog Forget all the exaggerated claims public officials told us about CCTV cameras and public safety. Move over Vision Zero proponents because there is a new player in town. License plate readers that can ID and fine vehicles for polluting the […]

A License Plate to Remember

Editor’s Note: This originally was posted in June 2018 as NMA Weekly E-Newsletter #490. The information presented is still pertinent in 2021. If you would like to receive the NMA weekly one-topic newsletter every Sunday in your inbox, subscribe today! A requirement of owning a vehicle, the lowly license plate has its place among the […]

Will DUI Laws Change With Self-Driving Vehicles?

Self-driving cars have seen rapid advancement and adoption in the US over the past several years. Many new vehicles already include features like automatic brakes and parking. It comes as no surprise, then, that General Motors, Ford and other automakers are investing in fully autonomous vehicles, following Tesla’s lead.” Of course, these new developments within […]

Should We Lean into a Federal Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax?: NMA E-Newsletter #643

Most experts agree that the way America funds infrastructure is broken. Many of our roads are in terrible shape. The Highway Trust Fund is nearly empty. Many local governments have difficulty paying for year-round road maintenance. The reasons vary. The federal and state gas taxes have never been adjusted for inflation. Many states divert funds […]

Getting Googled: What does a Connected Car Really Mean?

For generations, Ford worked closely with Firestone, which provided the tires installed on new Fords and developed them to work with specific Ford vehicles. That relationship soured in the late ’90s when Ford and Firestone were publicly vilified over Ford Explorer SUVs sometimes rolling over while being driven on Firestone Wilderness A/T tires. To this […]

Toyota’s Woven City and the Car of the Future

Think of the brand Toyota, and you may imagine steadfast, reliable, and eco-conscious models like the Prius. But what I’m sure you won’t be thinking about is an innovative, fully connected city. Yet that is precisely what you can expect in a bold new move from Toyota. The company plans to transform its recently closed […]

Drivers to be given Real-Time “Risk Scores” using Embedded Telematic Surveillance Sensors

By Joe Cadillic, co-writer of the NMA Street Surveillance Blog and founder of the MassPrivatel Blog Gone are the days when insurance companies used race, sex, and a person’s age to determine their auto insurance premiums. A new whitepaper by Cognizant, titled The New Auto Insurance Ecosystem: Telematics, Mobility and the Connected Car, reveals the real reasons […]