DRIVERS were reeling last night at Government plans to put a computerised spy in EVERY car.

The hi-tech gadgets will record each time a motorist DRIFTS over a speed limit, WANDERS into a bus lane or even STOPS on a yellow line.

And it means the Government will hit Britain's hard-pressed motorists with even more fines -- and bring extra millions flooding into the Treasury.

The proposed scheme is guaranteed to cause outrage among Britain's 38million drivers.

Last night Tory Shadow Trade Secretary Tim Yeo said the implications of the plan were nightmarish -- adding: "It risks turning every motorist, however safe a driver, into a criminal. It is far too draconian."

The Big Brother-style system, called Electronic Vehicle Identification, is outlined in an 85-page dossier. It was drawn up by the Association of Chief Police Officers on the orders of Transport Secretary Alistair Darling.

The scheme would force car makers to fit the microchip in all new vehicles. Older cars would have them added during an MOT.

Sensors installed at the side of every road will then pick up signals from the chip, pinpointing the car's exact position.

Each sensor would be programmed with the road's speed, parking and general driving restrictions -- and will record each car that breaks them.

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If the plan is approved by the Government it could become law by 2007.

And even if they decide to drop the idea, talks are already under way in Brussels that could see a similar system imposed on us by the EU.

The Department of Transport said the technical, financial and civil liberty issues surrounding the scheme were being examined.

wackoman2112 writes "The Sun is reporting that the UK government has plans to put a computerised spy in every car. This "spy" will record every single time a motorist goes slightly over the speed limit, into a bus lane, or stops on a yellow line! It will report this information to roadside sensors and you will soon receive a fine in the mail."

Security researchers believe that the creator of the Sobig mass-mailing computer virus won't stop with Sobig.F--the money may be too good.

The Sobig viruses--the first of which started spreading in January--are designed to load special software that can anonymize spam onto people's PCs. The tens of thousands of computers infected by the virus can then be used by bulk e-mailers to send unsolicited messages that can't be tracked.

"It is very well planned, very well designed and very well executed," said Mikko Hypponen, director of antivirus research for security company F-Secure. Hypponen believes that the virus' author likely sells the list of compromised PCs to spammers. "For once we have a virus with a very good motive: money."

The Sobig viruses are perhaps the first to be used as moneymakers, and that means it's likely the programmer, or group of programmers, that created the latest variant won't stop, said Joe Stewart, senior security researcher for network-protection company Lurhq.

"I do think we will see a new variant soon," Stewart said. Stewart has been studying each iteration of the Sobig virus and believes that, despite heightened law enforcement interest in finding the author, it's unlikely he or she will stop or be found. "The guy obviously knows how to use proxy servers (to achieve anonymity). To think you can track him down using an IP (Internet protocol) address down is pretty far-fetched."

Soon, hardware and software that track your location will be providing directions, offering shopping discounts, and aiding rescue workers--services that promise a windfall for ailing telecom carriers.

The proposed airline passenger-screening program CAPPS II ran into turbulence this week, including a gang assault by activist groups and a boycott triggered by a proposal to have private companies gather data.

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In a televised Monday morning press conference hosted by the "American Civil Liberties Union," an ideologically diverse coalition of activist groups ranging from the NAACP to the anti-big-government group Americans for Tax Reform jointly criticized the proposed Computerized Airline Passenger Pre-Screening System II, or CAPPS II.

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, called CAPPS II part of "a series of police power and informational privacy power grabs that flowed from Sept. 11."

Norquist's criticism may signal trouble for CAPPS II -- he is known for his influential, well-attended weekly Washington get-togethers where tax reformers, conservative Christian groups and anti-gun-control groups meet with congressional and White House staffers to strategize and coordinate efforts.

Nearly all of the speakers at Monday's conference accused the proposed system of "mission creep," pointing to a provision to screen passengers for outstanding warrants for violent crimes. Several also suggested the system would eventually lead to the creation of a national identification card.

"This CAPPS sweep for general information from American citizens is unfortunately going to be done instead of some of the things that might be effective," Norquist said. "CAPPS is a bad idea that will collapse into bigger, worse ideas."

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A spokesman for the TSA said the private databases involved in the system would be barred from saving or using the data, but the most recent Privacy Act notice seems to apply only to the databases the passenger data is checked against, not the ones in which that information is first collected.

When asked if Galileo turned over passenger records to law enforcement only when presented with a subpoena, Lyon would only say that the Galileo cooperated with legitimate law enforcement inquiries.

Even some in the travel business, such as the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, side with Scannell and other CAPPS II critics. Eighty-two percent of the ACTE's members who replied to a survey earlier this year suspected that the federal government would use travel information for other purposes, according to the group's spokesman, Jack Riepe.

More and more people are becoming suspicious of radio-frequency identification tags -- tiny transmitters that track the whereabouts of products with stunning accuracy. So the food industry is adding biosensors to the tags in a bid to present them as essential terrorism-fighting tools.

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"Antiterrorism designation from the "Homeland Security Department" will encourage the adoption of this technology by our customers," said Paul Cheek, CEO of Global Technology Resources, which has developed a supply-chain-auditing system incorporating RFID biosensors.

If Homeland Security designates GTR's system, called Safe Check, as an antiterrorism technology, it will shield Cheek and his customers from lawsuits if the system fails to work as intended.

The Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies ("Safety") Act of 2002 authorizes the Homeland Security Department to name as "qualified antiterrorism technologies" any devices designed to thwart or mitigate the effects of terrorism. Users of approved devices will enjoy blanket protections from liability lawsuits arising from a terrorist attack.

According to one technology industry lobbyist, the Safety Act was a "backroom deal" brokered by defense contractors, tort reform lawyers and congressional leaders.

But the Safety Act has recently caught the attention of the food industry, which is now funding the development of RFID biosensors and pushing for their coverage under the Safety Act.