Many GPS receivers feature a "track log" type feature which knows where you've been, at least up to a point. Again, that only applies if you have physical access to the receiver. Ordinary navigation GPS devices don't upload any data as part of their navigation mechanism, they're receivers only.

They've used OnStar specifically in episodes of CSI as embedded advertising and to be able to track cars or where they've been.

@kaceetheconsumer: Are you thinking of services/devices like OnStar or something like the GPS devices that show you where you are on a map? Because if you have one of the devices that show where you are (whether you're driving, or using a handheld device for hiking, etc), they can't find you. You just read the information from the satelite.

However, if you have something like OnStar, yes, they are watching you. Those things bother me a bit, too.

@CaptainSemantics: Huh, this would have been useless to me when I lived in Atlanta. I knew the roads there better than some obvious body part that is often in front of my face. But moving to a new city... this would be so much better than having to guess and take chances and wonder what roads go where and what the traffic is like on them. Gah, give us this feature in Ottawa please!

I'd find it useful to sit here at home and check what streets are likely to be busy before I go out so I can plan a route accordingly. But I don't use a GPS because a) I get motion sick easily and couldn't use it while driving or riding anyway and b) even though I'm a fairly innocent person, I don't want to be tracked by anyone for government or commercial purposes.

Isn't the GPS thing way more creepy? Or am I missing some way that this should be more worrisome?

@sponica: Did you miss the entire point of the article? The whole thing is about how it shows traffic patterns. And if you check the top of the directions listing itself, if there's traffic data available, it'll give you a minimum and maximum time depending on traffic.

@Darklighter: I've been using it for about a year now as part of my job. I really don't get why they're announcing it as a new feature. (Goggle, not Consumerist - Consumerist is just reporting what they see, after all.)

That data could be subpoenaed the same way they can tell if the bus driver was texting when he rear ended you, although you don't need Google Traffic for that. Technically, any time your phone (even w/out gps) is on it's pinging the towers so they already know sorta where you are.

/lives inside the map area

While it appears from Google's description that this shouldn't be possible with their setup, it's not unreasonable to be concerned about the possibility.

This is great! It would've been great to have while I lived in Vegas. Traffic time was horrible, no matter what highway or street you took. But it was great that all the streets there were in a grid pattern. So when I-15 and 95 were jampacked..at least taking sidestreets felt better!

Reminds me of The Law by Robert Coates (short story)
[books.google.com]

People suddenly stop behaving in predictable patterns for no apparent reason, and it causes chaos in New York. Congress passes a law requiring people to behave according to averages, but it ends up being a mess.

Kinda boring unless you like math and psychology

Well, that's the only highway we have here. But I promise you if we had another one, we'd put a "the" in front of it!

Out of curiosity, is anyone actually creeped out by this? And if so, why?

@benh57:

No, we don't.
We do sometimes use names of passes to denote direction of travel, i.e. "Over the Altamont".

@floraposte: I've never in my life heard someone say "the" before a highway. This is life changing! It's like the first time I heard someone say a coffee rather than some coffee.

@benh57: In Phoenix we say the I-10 or the 202....

@TechnoDestructo: Well, since it's 100% optional to use the tracker, I'd say that is one stupid murderer.

I prefer accuracy..

Northside is a crapshoot in and of itself. But I live on the 85 side ITP, so what do I know. :)

All I know is I can finally know whether to take North Druid or Clairmont when I'm going down to my husband's office next to Emory. (If I left right now, the answer would be Clairmont.)

No - in southern California the moniker "the" is used. The 405, the 605, the 5 are all accepted. However everwhere else it sounds goofy. In Denver saying "get on the 25" sounds in bad form.

But I believe if it's not a number, rather an expressway name it's ok. I hear "the Kennedy" used in Chicago traffic reports at times.

Having lived in the "Southland" too I can answer the question: Every surface street is jammed too. This from someone who has used Sepulveda, La Cienega, and Beverly Glen all as an alternative to the 405. And they all suck traffic wise. Which is part of the reason I now longer live there and can now bike to work.

Where do they get the traffic data for the non-freeway roads from? I know that my state has monitoring on the freeways, but I wasn't aware that anyone monitored anything else. And the construction alerts on the maps are a total mess - I've found quite a few that are listing alerts for that freeway, but in totally different cities than where they are showing up!

A) Don't murder your wife, or

B) Give the cellphone to a friend for an instant alibi.

I recommend option A.

"Where were you at the time of the murder?"

"I was stuck in traffic."

"Oh really? Well this log of your movements we subpoenaed from Google says you got off the highway and made it home just in time to murder your wife."

That is why it would creep people out.

At 5:30PM.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to be busy on Google Maps for a few hours just playing.