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
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Chapter 3
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3 comments:
I think it all boils down to how far people and society will trust such systems. (both face recognition and DNA). We put so much confidence in this tecnhology and don't realize there are mistakes and glitches.
I thought that was absurd as well about how in the past they would bring parents to court and look at them and compare them to the child in question to determine parentage. We have come a long way but there are potential harms we dont always account for with new technology.
It's a catch 22 buddy. It sure is nice to have the freedom to go anywhere and not worry about anyone watching you or tracking you with prints or DNA but it sure does make catching criminals easier.... My solution, only track the criminals!!!!! Yeah, I know.....
I also found this chapter among the more interesting in the book. I thought it was funny how they determined parentage as well. I think Patrick is right (Love...sorry Kimbrough) we do put so much trust in these technologies and to the average American, they seem foolproof. I think if some are used in conjunction with each other (for security purposes) they could potentially be very effective. Maybe we should use these when all of our medical records are digitized....
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