GPS technology an imposition or an improved position?

Beijing brings out the Big Brother in Western media. For instance, a recent report in The Guardian led with the line, "Human rights activists believe the Chinese government is exploiting mobile technology to control unrest."

My first thought was, what unrest? Then, slightly less glib, what government doesn't exploit technology to keep tabs on its population? The story was based on a benign Beijing Daily article saying a scheme was being implemented that could track the movement of individuals using global positioning technology and thereby improve traffic.

The deputy director of the Beijing municipal science and technology commission was quoted as saying the system would be used to deal with congestion by collecting data on the movement of people.