> > It seems to me that part of "responsible parenting" is at some point trusting your children. It means allowing them to grow up and to have their own lives that are not monitored at all times by their parents.
>
> Yes, and I agree that if parents have to use state records to track their children, there is a problem that began earlier. What I'm saying, though, is that at 16, you don't necessarily have the *right* to privacy. At 16, privacy is a privilege that, hopefully by that time, they will have earned. But give their parents a reason to doubt them, and those parents have the legal right (indisputable), the ethical right -- and I would further argue the *responsibility* -- to know where there children are and what they're doing.
>

I think children should generally have some privacy, and I agree that the extent of that privacy has to grow gradually with age and earned trust. But I don't see this as a privacy issue.

Whether or not someone was driving on the Interstate is not private. It's no secret that a particular car was on a particular road in plain view of other cars and drivers. If a friend of mine had mentioned to me that he saw my (hypothetical) son driving down the 15 when he was supposed to be at the neighbour's, I wouldn't consider it an invasion of privacy at all. The information shouldn't be readily available to just any old private citizen in a form that would let them track any other person's travels, but it should be available to people who have a genuine interest in someone's whereabouts (e.g. parents, court proceedings) in the right circumstances.

What's more, as I think was mentioned, the people getting this information are parents who (presumably) own the cars that were being driven. I guess they would get the info anyway on their monthly toll statement. Everyone has a right to know where his second most expensive possession is going at 65 mph.

If the child owns the car and pays his own tolls, the parents probably shouldn't have access to that information. That's part of the trust that comes with letting your kid own a car. By that time, the ship has sailed on keeping constant tabs on your kid's whereabouts.

^v^:)^v^
F"or you can move to Juneau, Alaska to be sure there are no roads leaving the city"B