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Resistance to intelligent traffic
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Date: Tue, 28 Nov 95 14:07:45 PST
From: RISKS List Owner
RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Tuesday 28 November 1995 Volume 17 : Issue 48
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Date: Tue, 21 Nov 1995 15:07:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Phil Agre
Public resistance to electronic road-use taxes is continually to grow worldwide. Most recently, a panel of 14 laymen assembled by Teknologi Naevnet (i.e., The Danish Board of Technology, Antonigade 4, DK-1106, Denmark, +45 33 32 05 03 -- see report number 5/1995), having been presented with arguments pro and con concerning "intelligent traffic" technologies, concluded that it "does not see any substantial economic, environmental or safety benefits from massive public investments in traffic informatics -- perhaps with the exception of public transport". On the issue of safety, for example, they accepted that some likely safety benefits existed, but that they had to be weighed against other potential dangers, for example that drivers' skills may deteriorate due to reliance on automation, and in any event they concluded that if safety should be improved then much more cost-effective measures were available anyway. They also raised concerns about privacy and emphasized that new legislation would have to regulate the new databases that such systems would accumulate.
The report fits an emerging global pattern. When electronic road tolls and other forms of high technology that entail surveillance of citizens' movements are implemented quietly, creating a fait accompli, citizens tend to accept them fatalistically. But when any sort of democratic procedure is employed, public resistance is very stiff indeed. This phenomenon suggests two possible scenarios for the future:
(1) Continued stealth implementation, leading to deepening public distrust of information technology and the organizations that control it.
(2) Genuine public involvement in the social choices being made about "intelligent" roadway technologies, leading to legitimate decisions based on full public debate, and potentially as well to technological improvements (such as the use of digital cash and other technologies of anonymity) that deliver a broad range of functionality while responding appropriately to legitimate public concerns.
Which scenario occurs will depend on the political culture of each country. More concretely, it will depend on the degree to which people are informed about the issues, express their concerns, and ensure that the more legitimate course is taken.
Phil Agre, UCSD
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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 17.48
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