I’ve never really discussed it, but I’m from the government (and I’m here to help). Sursly, I do work for a city government that is deploying license plate readers. They have one use and one use only: to identify stolen vehicles.
Relatedly, I’m about to start using Bluetooth readers in my traffic signals. It will identify major traffic movements to help me better coordinate and time signals. And it doesn’t just use the Bluetooth in your phone. It can read your tire pressure monitoring systems or anything else in your car. It only collects part of your unique Bluetooth code and tracks it through the system and then flushes the code after it turns you into just a car driving down the road. Neat stuff and I can’t wait to use it. But I’m not going to be the first. It’s getting deployed all over the state and is already in many cities. So here’s two examples of technology that can actually be used for good and not be just out to watch people. That is, unless you’re breaking the law.