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By Greg Bartlett

Federal bean-counters are trying to track your movements. Sound like the plot of a bad thriller? Unfortunately if a proposed highway infrastructure funding plan goes through it will be a sad reality. Newly appointed Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood suggested one way that the government could raise funds for highway repairs would be a tax based on how many miles drivers drive. To monitor the driving habits of Americans would require the widespread implementation (re: mandated installation) of GPS tracking devices in vehicles.

Let’s review a little background about how GPS tracking works. A device is installed in your automobile communicates with three orbiting satellites to triangulate your position. That information is then either stored in the unit for later use or transmitted to a monitoring center. GPS has become a huge business with many companies offering tracking services to consumers who are worried about auto theft for a monthly subscription fee.

The proposals put forth by a Congressional special committee are looking at two main points to compensate for a shortfall of $8 billion dollars. 1) Raising the current gasoline tax to 28.4 cents (10 cent increase) and diesel tax by 15 cents (totaling 39.4 cents) per gallon, and/or 2) taxing on a “vehicle-miles-driven” tax model. The concern of the committee is that as more fuel-efficient vehicles are embraced by consumers that the revenue generated from gas taxes will not be sufficient to fund necessary repair and expansions of the nation’s thoroughfares.

While the need to have money to ensure our safety while driving is undeniably important, the message being sent may be wrong-headed. There seems to be a hinted condemnation of these more environmentally-friendly cars, as if the funding shortfall is a result of the population’s desire to protect the environment and not a fiscal responsibility placed upon consumers by unregulated oil price gouging.

Beyond the anti-environmental aspect of this proposal there is the very real privacy concern. Giving the government permission to track our every movement is a dangerous slope. It is one that we should not start down without very careful scrutiny over who will have access to the information and how it will be used. As a service, GPS tracker entered the mainstream consciousness to provide peace of mind, now if the government is allowed to proceed down this path it may be a tool used to rob us of that comfort.

The good news is that although Ray LaHood is a member of the Obama administration the White House has clearly voiced its disassociation with this plan. Although the president does not endorse these initiatives it is still important for voters to ensure that their representatives know that this is unacceptable.