Today, more electro-mommyism — the substitution of technology for adult behavior. Before in this space we have talked about ignition interlocks that require the driver to blow into a tube, attached to a device that doesn’t let the car start if he has been drinking. Now we have what might be called a credit interlock.
If you buy a car on bad credit, you may be required to have it equipped with a black box from Sekurus.com, which prevents the car from starting if you miss a payment.
The device is programmed with the date the payment is due. A few days beforehand, it starts flashing to remind you to haul out your checkbook. If you don’t, it simply prevents the car from running.
More specifically, the On Time mounts under the dashboard and has a row of numbers. Three days before payment is due, the number “3” begins flashing. Next day, the “2.” On the third day the “1” flashes red and the device begins beeping. This lets the customer know that within 24 hours, the car will not start.
(Special security codes, says Sekurus, allow the car to be used during emergencies.) On the other hand, if you do pay, the seller gives you a code that you enter into the gadget.
zSays Sekurus, “The On Time system is a legal electronic payment protection unit that uses microprocessor-based technology to turn credit-challenged prospects into paying customers who pay in a timely manner. … Since Sekurus introduced On Time, thousands of dealers and finance companies worldwide are using the system.” An improved version will incorporate Global Positioning System technology, which will not only disable the car but also tell the dealer where it is.
Now, you might ask why anyone would deliberately sell you a car on bad credit. Common sense is beyond the scope of this column; still, I thought selling people houses on bad credit was thought to be causing economic problems. The fact is that the things are selling and, according to Sekurus, sales are increasing.
The company says that the system both allows more customers to qualify for loans, and also helps the buyer re-establish credit because he is more likely to pay up.
What caught my attention was this: “The On Time system teaches good credit behavior; it actually changes customer behavior through technology.” Maybe I’m old-fashioned, I just flat don’t want my behavior changed through technology.
Is the public morality changing, or do these systems just target the few who would have behaved irresponsibly in any age? When I graduated from college in 1970, the college library didn’t have an anti-theft gate. It was assumed that students would not steal books. Now there is a gate. Similarly, cameras watch us to prevent shoplifting. There are systems to let us track our children electronically instead of expecting them to learn to behave well.
Today, countless people download copyright music from the Internet. Whatever you think of the practice, it is illegal. Illegal drugs are rife from middle school on. The solutions, or what are hoped to be solutions, are usually technological, not moral — imposed, not internalized. The public can’t be trusted not to steal books, so we use anti-theft gates.
Maybe this is a good idea. It’s hard to argue that people shouldn’t learn to pay their bills. Yet one may wonder about the wisdom of having people do as they ought because something is watching them, not because they believe it to be right.
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