{"id":4561,"date":"2003-08-06T14:55:30","date_gmt":"2003-08-06T21:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/?p=4561"},"modified":"2003-08-06T14:55:30","modified_gmt":"2003-08-06T21:55:30","slug":"big_brother_is","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/08\/06\/big_brother_is.html","title":{"rendered":"Big Brother is waiting for his check"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure if this is a clever idea, or an appalling one: a device that disables your car if you’re late with your payment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Five days before the payment was due, the light would blink five times and then the day the payment was due it would be a solid red,” says Ross.
\nThe device is installed under the car’s dashboard. Pay your bill, and the customer gets a new code, good for another month. “And after they punch in the six digit code, they’re ready to go.”
\nBut once that solid red comes on, the car won’t start.<\/p>\n

Car dealerships like the device because it helps reduce reliance on the repo man, or calling people to find out where their payment is. And the bad-credit folks in the story seem to like it, too.<\/p>\n

“It really helped me a lot dealing with the fact that I know my bill is due, I have to pay it on time or else I can’t get to work,” Johnson says. “That’s how it benefits me a lot.”<\/p>\n

That, and dealerships are in turn a lot more likely to sell or lease to bad-credit folks while using that device.<\/p>\n

Still, the whole idea sort of makes me feel … uncomfortable. Not sure why. Just does.<\/p>\n

(via Wendland<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure if this is a clever idea, or an appalling one: a device that disables your car if you’re late with your payment. “Five days before the payment…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hi-tech"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14631,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/04\/26\/its-not-from-nigeria-so-it-must-be-true.html","url_meta":{"origin":4561,"position":0},"title":"It’s not from Nigeria, so it must be true!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Apr-09 10:07pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I mean, who would imitate the FBI's official computer letterhead? Federal Bureau of Investigation J. Edgar Hoover Building 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001 \u00a0 Our Ref: FBI-75BFWDUS09\u00a0\u00a0 Attention Fund Beneficiary,\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Payment Release Instruction From The Federal Bureau Of Investigation\u00a0 Acting on the Intelligence report we received from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spam"","block_context":{"text":"Spam","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/computer-security\/spam"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10030,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/09\/20\/end_of_the_road.html","url_meta":{"origin":4561,"position":1},"title":"End of the road","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 20-Sep-06 1:08pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So we have a plan on cars, you see? Average car, I think, will last you six, seven, eight years before you start having to worry about serious problems, or,...","rel":"","context":"In "Cars"","block_context":{"text":"Cars","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/cars"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13033,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/08\/12\/government_notice.html","url_meta":{"origin":4561,"position":2},"title":"Government Notice!","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 12-Aug-08 8:52am","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, if it's from the government of Nigeria, not some unknown widow, charity, or lawyer, it must be true! \u00a0\u00a0OFFICE OF THE SENATE HOUSE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA \u00a0COMMITTEE...","rel":"","context":"In "Spam"","block_context":{"text":"Spam","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/computer-security\/spam"},"img":{"alt_text":"spam","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/spam.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":135271,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/03\/health-care-free-market-collide-unfortunate-results.html","url_meta":{"origin":4561,"position":3},"title":"How Health Care and the Free Market collide, with unfortunate results","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Nov-17 12:26am","format":false,"excerpt":"Health Care has faded a bit from the immediate set of Things the GOP Are Doing That Are Going To Hurt A Lot of People (in favor of some other things), but it's worth bookmarking this particular thought. 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