Cars.gov: No Privacy Allowed

The Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, is the Obama Administration's latest attempt to stimulate our seemingly devastated economy. In an effort to help both the economy and the environment by spurring new car sales, the federal government is now offering car owners subsidies of up to $4,500 for trading in their old gas guzzlers. My initial reaction to this program (better known as "cash for clunkers") was that it seems like a simple and effective way to give our economy a much needed boost. So, despite feeling like I had a handle on how the program would work, I found myself interested in learning more and quickly discovered that "www.cars.gov" is the place to go for more information. And if I hadn't come across the following "privacy act and security statement" first, by chance, I would have certainly logged on to the site and may have even brushed past the lovely message supposedly awaiting me:

"This application provides access to the DoT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a Federal computer system and is the property of the U.S. government. Any or all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DoT, and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign."

Bottom line? An official government website is supposedly claiming up front that once you log into the system it uses, your computer and all of the files on it become property of the U.S. government. Honestly, I do not know whether to be outraged at the blatant disregard for personal privacy or pleased with the fact that the government is now at least openly warning us of its egregious behavior. I have not yet confirmed this information to be accurate because, if it is for real, I do not even want to type the URL into my web browser. I hate to say that I would not put this past our government, but I am also not sure that an attempt to verify it is worth the potential risk. In my endless effort to encourage others to hold our elected officials accountable, I inevitably asked all kinds of questions regarding the matter. Could the federal government really be preying upon millions of Americans who are simply trying to play by the rules? Could the "cash for clunkers" program be part of a larger agenda to expand the warrantless wiretapping program and spy on citizens? I will be keeping an eye out for updates on this and, in the meantime, I would love to hear reader's thoughts on the issue, especially if you've actually visited the site and can confirm any of what I've presented.