Government to use satellite tracking for the elderly?

It is truly amazing the sort of silly ideas that come out of this Government sometimes. The latest, from the Science and Technology Minister, Malcolm Wicks, is to use tagging with satellite tracking for elderly people with dementia and Alzheimer's. Wicks told the Commons Science and Technology Committee,

"we've got an ageing population, with many people frail and many suffering from dementia, including Alzheimer's. How can we get the balance right so that these people have the freedom to live their lives, to go out into the community and go shopping, but also that some might benefit from being monitored so that their families know they are safe and secure."

Not only are there the obvious privacy considerations of using satellite tracking of individuals but what happens when the person walks into somewhere like a supermarket where signaling is notoriously ropey? Someone who has early Alzheimer's is unlikely to want to be tagged, and someone with dementia in the later stages is probably not someone who is likely to be safe if let to wander the streets.