RFID, GPS Technology and Electronic Surveillance

Villagers Force Council to Remove Intrusive 'Big Brother' Camera

November 30, 2009

Telegraph - A scheme to introduce cameras has divided the Berkshire village with some residents complaining that the scale of local crime did not justify measures “more appropriate to inner city hotspots.”

Some objectors said the surveillance of the whole community was “unacceptable” and the “overpowering” camera poles would change the character of the village. One resident expressed the fear that the cameras could look into bedrooms.

West Berkshire council approved £200,000 to install cameras in three villages. Two other smaller poles supporting CCTV cameras in Pangbourne are to remain, despite opposition, a spokesman said.

Yesterday, council contractors took down the largest of the three cameras in Pangbourne after a firm of estate agents raised a petition calling for its removal.

The pole replaced a street light, half its size, three months ago and now the light has been put back.

One of the village objectors who signed the petition referred to George Orwell’s novel, 1984, and said:

“Welcome to 1984, remove them all!” Other residents wrote “Big Brother” and “Why?”

Campaigners also put up posters, with tongue-in-cheek messages including:

“If I get lost… Please, please return me to my Big Brother”...

West Berkshire Council said that the camera was put up as part of a wider CCTV programme, which included two other villages, and was designed to improve safety and security for residents and businesses. A spokesman said the large camera in Pangbourne had been chosen for coverage of the car park opposite.

“However, following a request from a local estate agent we have removed it. It will be re-located but not in the village.”

The spokesman confirmed that the two other cameras in Pangbourne would remain.

“We took on board all opinions in the village and the overall wish seemed to be that two should remain, but the third outside the estate agent was superfluous. It will be re-used somewhere else.”

He said the cost of putting the camera up and taking it down was about £1,000. The camera would be used elsewhere, he added.

Pay-Per-Mile Auto Insurance Could Be the New HMO

November 5, 2009

Debra Legg - Why would someone who barely drives not jump at the chance to buy "pay per mile" auto insurance, which the Brookings Institute [editor's note: ruling-elite propaganda machine] estimates will cut most people's yearly insurance costs $270 per car?

Well, for one, I remember the last time an insurance company swore I'd see dramatic savings under a revolutionary new plan. I hope someone came out ahead under health maintenance organizations - I suspect most of us did not.

For another, I'm already under a pretty simple low-milage plan: $680 a year - that's actually sane for California - and all I have to do is take my car in once a year for the agent to verify that I've driven less than 9,000 miles in the past 12 months.

I wouldn't complain if they gave me a bigger break for 4,500 miles, because with my habits and my husband's pending deployment, we'd save a bundle.

I suspect that's not the way it's going to play out in California, where state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has released new regulations paving the way for pay-as-you go auto insurance. Poizner, another one of California's great gubernatorial candidates, says such plans will encourage people to drive less and reward environmentally conscious driving habits, plus more accurately tie insurance costs to risks. Weren't HMOs supposed to do something like that, too?

I might be convinced to set aside my skepticism and give it a try with a company like MileMeter, which The Sacramento Bee said is interested in California. The Texas company lets you buy as little as 1,000 miles of insurance at a time, and it requires only that you send in three photographs of your odometer over six months as verification.

Ay, but not every company is as trusting.

Prudential, which offers pay-per-mile in 16 states, isn't happy with the odometer verification. That company installs devices that track your miles in real time, plus your speed and the time of day you were driving. They promise they won't release your data - honest, they won't. Unless someone makes them.

That type of reporting, though, is actually mild compared to that of firms that believe GPS is best, because it lets you save even more if you drive less-congested routes or during off-peak hours. I'm sure they won't release you data either. Unless someone makes them.

But back to MileMeter. I picked a Dallas address at random and used otherwise correct data on my car, age and gender. I also replicated my current coverage levels. The quote came back at $487 for 4,000 miles for six months - $276 more and 1,000 miles fewer miles allowed over a year. I do get a discount for carrying a renter's policy with my current company, but that only amounts to about $50 a year. I'd still be $226 in the hole.

If the little old lady who only drives her car two miles round trip to preschool Monday through Friday can't save under pay-per-mile, I'm wondering who can. Thanks for the money-saving "help," Commissioner Poizner. I'm not voting for you for governor, either.

I just hope my current company doesn't feel compelled to "adjust" its rates to reflect the pay-per-mile competition.

Nation’s First By-the-Mile Auto Insurance Provider Celebrates First Anniversary with National Attention

November 19, 2009

MileMeter Press Release - The nation’s first by-the-mile auto insurance provider, MileMeter, is marking its anniversary this fall with several customer events in Waco and Dallas, Texas, while planning its expansion strategy in response to growing interest and demand from other states.

Founder and CEO Chris Gay was featured on Fox Business News on Nov. 10, 2009, as anchor Brian Sullivan interviewed him as a leading expert in pay-as-you-drive (PAYD) insurance. The on-air segment allowed MileMeter to share the revolutionary money-saving and customer-focused concept and gave background on how the PAYD system works.

“The less you drive, the less you pay,” Gay explained as he answered many questions about how consumers can personally benefit with cost savings by enrolling with MileMeter. Gay also noted that MileMeter encourages and rewards the socially responsible behavior of driving less, leading to “…improvements in air quality, water quality and public safety benefits due to less congestion and fewer accidents.”

Among the blogs that have supported MileMeter – to name a few – are TreeHugger, Greenopolis and Mother Nature Network.

Currently, MileMeter policies are available only to Texas residents, but the idea that driving less could mean paying less is spreading to other states.

California recently changed its regulations to allow “pay-drive” and per-mile insurance. A related article in the Sacramento Bee cited MileMeter’s plan as a prime example of the kind of auto insurance that should be available to California drivers to persuade them to drive less in order to reduce the state’s air pollution and traffic congestion...

Kentucky Drivers Can Pay By the Mile with New Tracking Device

InsuranceQuotesUs.com - The MyRate tracking device from Progressive Casualty Insurance Company is now available to Kentucky drivers. The MyRate program is available in seven states, and has been popular among many customers. MyRate is just one of the many forms of PAYD or pay as you drive auto insurance programs cropping op across the country.

If you have a car you rarely use, or a very short commute to work, MyRate or another type of pay as you drive program could save 10 or 15 percent on your auto insurance premiums. The device installed on your car tracks driving behavior such as how often you slam your brakes in addition to car mileage. For teenagers who often engage in risky driving behavior, the potential savings is debatable. However it could be a useful way to track your teen's driving habits.

The particular device used by Progressive can be installed on cars made from 1996 on and requires a monthly fee of five dollars to operate. The majority of auto insurance policyholders still see substantial savings on auto insurance premiums even with this small fee. Some auto insurance companies use OnStar to track miles for their pay as you go auto insurance program. For many, a pay by the mile auto insurance program is perfectly suited to their needs.