Sure, but for decades the license plate was an implicit social contract of functional pseudonymity: a random string of characters that for almost everyone on a day to day basis meant the government wasn’t tracking your whereabouts but could identify you if they really wanted to (at a stop).

So what people are really reacting to is the government using technical means to change the terms of that social contract without our input.

Same thing with Flock. People do the whole civic engagement thing and cities still sign contracts anyways.

A lot of people wouldn’t even be opposed if the whole thing was on a ballot measure. It becomes a problem when the government decides they no longer need consent of the governed.