Chapter 4

It's amazing how much of our information is stored all over the internet for many years. Every email you ever sent, every website that you ever created an account on or purchased a product from, and every forum or blog that you've ever posted to (like this one).

Tracking systems such as VIN numbers and lot numbers that are placed on products has increased our security and safety. If your car is stolen it can be tracked back to you from the VIN number. If there is a product flaw you can easily identify and fix the problem and identify what products are affected and issue a recall.

RFID tags could create huge cost savings in the supply chain functions of companies, and in theft prevention in retail stores. However, as I read the section on RFID tags and Electronic Toll Systems (ETS), I was wondering why anyone would want to purchase a system that makes it easier for the police to catch you speeding. As you drive through the toll the speed of the RFID frequency tells the system how fast you are driving and can print you a ticket. I know that after I received my first ticket in the mail I would be trashing my ETS and buying a radar detector to instead put technology on my side for once. Also, the details of your location and what tolls you drive through are stored in a database that can now be easily accessed by the police or anyone that has access to your billing statement. It makes it a lot harder to cheat on your wife with an out of town girl that's for sure...

This chapter also discusses tracking the driving habits of your teenagers with a chip in the car that can alert you if they drive over a predetermined speed and where they're located. I'm just glad they didn't have that technology when I was a teenager, I feel sorry for the kids that will have this done to them. I wouldn't install that chip on my kids car, the more controlling and strict I am when they're a teenager the crazier they'll be when they're let loose in college. That is unless they can come up with another tracking tool for college, like that RFID tag that goes under your skin. They could have scanners in front of bars and frat houses, yeah that would be great!

Chapter 3

It was interesting to see how the identification of humans has evolved throughout history. From bodily measurements, to hand and foot prints, to fingerprints, to DNA, and to computerized fingerprints and DNA. I was a little jealous reading about how difficult it used to be to track and identify people, it was the ultimate freedom, and it’s a lot harder to escape the past and the law these days. Identification technology has had a huge impact on law enforcement. It’s much easier to link individuals to crimes and to get accurate convictions with DNA and fingerprinting technology. However, with these technologies there is always the chance of manipulation, fraud, and human error that must be considered in court. I thought it was hilarious that prior to DNA identification a court would rule on a child’s parents based upon which person the child most looked like. My brother doesn’t look anything like me or my parents I swear he’s adopted, so a few years back if challenged the court probably would have given him to another set of parents. The future of identification could be very cool if used one way, and very scary if used another. It seems like a lot of the identification technology is used against the average citizen to stop them from doing something, to catch them doing something, or to keep track of what they’ve been doing. So the government and police love to exploit this type of technology. In the future when this technology is even more advanced there will be nowhere to hide. With face recognition you will be identified everywhere a camera is present, and you will then be matched against a database that will provide the requester with endless personal information about your past, your criminal history, your credit, and the list goes on. This information will undoubtedly impact where you are allowed to go, and how you are treated at businesses. I know that some casinos in Las Vegas already are using a form of this technology. If you’ve been banned from the casino they will have your face on record and it will be identified within seconds if you ever set foot in the casino again. However, if this information is used in another way it could be very convenient, the book uses the example of a student at the library. The student could enter the library, the library recognizes the student and lets him in, he sits down at a computer and it automatically identifies him, logs him in, and pull up his files. Ultimately it is going to be critical to regulate how these technologies are used in the future to ensure that our freedom and privacy is protected.

Chapter 2

This chapter provides a history lesson, and shows us the roots of privacy loss and the lessons that can be learned from the mistakes of the past. It was interesting to see how information databases have evolved and what affect that has had on privacy over the years. This leads us to the main issue discussed in this chapter which is the accountability and protection of the information that is stored in large databases. The book uses the example of credit reporting agencies. It’s scary to think that a private company can have this much control over your life, and so little accountability for the information that it reports. Most of our lives and who we are is stored in a computer database somewhere. When we graduate college the university keeps computer records that prove that we graduated, what would happen if there was a mistake in these records and suddenly no one believed you had a college degree? Better hold onto that copy of your diploma. Our SSN’s, our birth certificates, our citizenship, our credit reports, one mistake in any of these documents could be detrimental to us, and if there is a mistake could you prove it? Many victims of fraud and incorrect credit reporting could not and had to wait seven years for their credit to be cleared of these mistakes. This brings us back to my last post when the statement was made that “It’s a world where computers are assumed to be correct, and people wrong.” With all of this vital information stored in databases, and with so many businesses requiring the knowledge of your SSN identity theft is becoming prevalent. The number of people at these companies that have access to your private information is sickening. In my last job I literally could personally access thousands of names addresses and SSN’s from each and every one of our clients, I could access there bank accounts and routing numbers as well, and the list goes on. What about the less important information like cell phone records, and credit cards and banks that track your every purchase and give you cash back or airline rewards depending on which stores you shop at and how much you spend. We find these services convenient but when you think about it it’s just another way in which we are being watched, it’s impossible for us to know who has or will have access to this information, and how they will use it. I can think of one way that they’ll be using it…They’ll sell your purchasing habits to marketers! Prepare yourself for more junk mail…

A Scary Future?

The introduction of this book definitely goes right at the issue. It almost provides a sense of paranoia when thinking about technology in the future and how it could negatively impact our lives. As I read I couldn’t help but be reminded of numerous futuristic movies in which the down side of technology is realized. In Demolition Man a machine automatically prints out a ticket each time Sylvester Stallone swears, or in Gatika genetic technology creates a new form of class separation where girls check out your genetic information before deciding whether or not to date you, and numerous other movies touch on issues of future technology and what happens when computers take over. I never really thought about it too much until now, but a lot of our freedoms and privacies have disappeared in recent years. Computers can track almost everything that we do making it impossible to get away with anything. I liked the quote “It’s a world where computers are assumed to be correct, and people are wrong”. This is a scary thought, the more that computers and technology are integrated into our daily lives the more control the computers will have over us, and the more devastating any small clerical, or computing errors will become on our lives. If a mistake does happen who will people believe, you or the computer? Hopefully this is far into the future, but there are issues that we are realizing right now. I know that I hate marketing with a passion. I feel that marketing combined with technology is ruining our society, it’s everywhere! If you own a land line you know that the majority of calls you receive are from telemarketers, then there’s billboards, commercials, packaging, junk mail, junk email, the list goes on. Technology is making it easier and easier for marketers to find and use your personal information to forcibly communicate junk to you and it’s only getting worse. With the lack of security on the internet, and the amount of personal data that is floating around on it it’s becoming increasingly easy to steal someone’s identity. Technology is a new concept that has expanded so quickly that the laws and regulations have not had time to catch up with many of the privacy issues that are being created. The major question that is posed in this chapter is can technology and privacy coexist? I’m sure that it will be a constant battle between the two and only time will tell which wins, but right now technology appears to have a head start.