Even though we are a quarter century past 1984, I am glad to say that Big Brother is not watching us. That is, unless we want to be watched with our webcam. Yes, we clearly live in a world that we never saw coming, and I am also glad to say that we don’t live in the dark dystopian world predicted by science fiction.

However, we may have taken a step toward a surveillance society last week, as a Wisconsin court ruled that the police can covertly attach a GPS tracking device to a citizen’s car without a warrant.

Apparently, it is okay for the police to plant their trackers because “GPS tracking does not involve a search or seizure”. Of course, one could argue that having the authorities track your whereabouts could be viewed as some sort beginning of a civil rights violation. I’m sure you can understand how the ACLU sees it.

Well, if more than just Wisconsin ratifies this law, then the United States might be seeing a lot of devices like the one you see in this photo. I suppose this will motivate a lot of people to purchase GPS detectors for scanning underneath the car.

So, is this the beginning of the end of privacy? Do we really want an answer for that one?

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