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15 Apr 2005
The fair and balanced government of the United Arabic Emirates has placed an order with IBM for $125 million to equip the nation's cars with a GPS tracking device.
The black box will monitor the speed of the car and send a warning signal if the driver exceeds the speed limit. It will also collect data for traffic control and targeted advertising (you don't want to bother your oil sheik with an ad for goat food).
Apparently the citizens of the oil-pumping nation are among the worst drivers in the world, with 38 traffic related deaths per 100,000 people. The UAE's government has set a target to cut that figure in half within the next five years.
And the technology is also very useful to track political opponents or other unwanted elements of society – especially in a country that has a reputation of valuing oil more than human life.
IBM made this mistake once before when it equipped the Nazis with the technology that facilitated the holocaust. But apparently IBM loves its money just as much as the UAE's sheiks love their oil.
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