Quick google check:
how many municipalities are there in the united states
Answer:
The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2007) counted 39,044 general purpose local governments, which includes 19,492 municipal governments, 16,519 township governments and 3.033 county governments.Mar 2, 2015
So unless PA drivers never move or travel and never get pulled over (don’t forget rental cars), there are plenty of gov agencies out there ready to request data in addition to private companies - all with legitimate purpose.
I have little respect for the media. I refuse to share their “hype” especially when there are numbers involved. When an article includes a number, you can be assured that they have left out more relevant facts than usual.
The article is hyping things up with the presumption that the data provided is not of legitimate purpose. You read it, and they get to count you as a “viewer” when marketing their advertising rates. They leave out that this same data would be provided to those companies and agencies REGARDLESS.
Don’t be a sap for hype (or propaganda) and learn to read with a more critical eye.
It’d be a safe bet that the 32,000 includes more private firms than gov’t agencies, so all those Google numbers are moot until the 32,000 breakdown is known. By itself, it’s a huge number.