I suspect it won't be long before these kind of devices will be built into all cars before the leave the factory. Or for that matter,into all people, as a statutory implant.

EVERY cell phone is required to contain a location device, accessible by "authorized agencies" to determine the location of the phone.

This has been true in the US for a few years.

Recent models allow you to choose whether anyone you call can "read" your location; and you can turn off this "public" function. You cannot turn off access to the location information by police or "emergency rescue" agents, and it's ridiculous to presume that the gestapo (whatever local form it takes) can't access it at any time.

All major auto makers, for at leat the past two "model years," already include similar "emergency locators" in recent autos sold in the US. So far as I can tell, even the "fringe" makers include something similar. The most common kinds include GPS with reported accuracies within 40 to 80 feet, although some of the older ones merely reported the nearest cell tower.

Although I can't yet say that you can't buy a new car without it, it would apparently be difficult to find one. If you are offered one without this "feature," the equipment most likely is already installed, and operable, but just isn't "activated" for you to use if you opt out of this "benefit."

The UK, and most particularly London, has been reported for several years as having the greatest number of surveillance cameras (per capita?) of any place in the world; and this network is apparently being rapidly expanded. The monitors, as of the last authoritative report I've seen, are most generally located in police stations, with little control over access by "anyone who wants to look." In the US, New York City in particular has been aggressively attempting to "copy the UK systems," and numerous smaller cities have significant "surveillance capabilities" that are apparently unknown to the majority of their citizens.

rural roads round here don't have anywhere for cameras to be mounted

Microwave frequency communications, as used by cell phones, require essentially line-of-sight between the antenna and the user. While rural areas may not (yet) have high resolution visual surveillance, one may assume that if your cell phone works, most of the road you're on has a suitable (and virtually invisible) place to mount a camera. Reports of widespread attempts to mount cameras in these places are sparse, but they are reported as being "in place" on a fair number of US Interstate highways.

But who really cares? After all, it's for our own good (?) "they" say.

John