Wayne,
I'm no expert, but here are some of my thoughts:
> surveillance cameras are everywhere,
This one is sort of inevitable - people want security cameras for their
own use, and if it catches evidence of anything bad, police will get a
warrant to look at the tapes.
There's a lot of information out there, but I don't think we can make it
go away ... it's more important that we have well-thought laws and a
legal process for who gets to look at the info, and when, and why.
> there is talk of adding rfid chips to cars.
My understanding of RFID chips is that the range is pretty limited, so
it's probably not the best option for "tracking" a car (you'd need
sensors attached to every mile marker). It _could_ be very useful for
the next generation EZPASS - if the car has a unique number, you could
run highway tolls off that instead of a customized transponder.
Something like this, I'd prefer to see it as an opt-in feature.
> you can surreptitiously add an ap to iPhone so you can track the
owner of it.
Anything "surreptitious" to an iPhone would require the iPhone to be
jailbroken first ... something that is done "at your own risk". Without
the Jailbreak, Apple & ATT control the access to your phone, so you're
trusting that particular dictator to be benevolent :)
> Is it me or is the world starting to leave Orwell's worst nightmare
in the dust.
Sometimes I worry about this too, but it's an interesting tradeoff. The
more a business knows about you, the more they can finetune what they
offer you. This is both creepy AND convenient. The creepy part is
obvious, and the convenient part is they'll waste less of my time
offering me something I'll never ever buy.
> It's bad enough to trade freedom for safety but to trade it for the
newest flashy technology?
I agree that chasing the next shiny object is not very wise, but the
privacy implications are secondary to the immediate waste problems we
cause - every product creates a box of trash, and the product has to be
replace wholesale every year, instead of just replacing a small part
with minimal packaging.
This sort of "planned obsolescence" probably contributes as much to the
CO2 problem than our choice of cars, and it offers us no actual value -
at least the car gets us from place to place, but how much value does
that disposable coffee cup really give us?
I've spent the last few years reusing all my coffee cups when I go out -
if it's a paper/styrofoam cup, I reuse it at the next place I get a cup
- if I have a proper thermos cup, I'll use that. When the disposable cup
is truly used up, only then does it get discarded/recycled. Most of the
time, the cashier just shrugs it off and uses your cup, even it says
"Dunkin Donuts" and you're at a Starbucks :)
I hope that by now, I've saved at least one small tree somewhere :)
Sp
Sean Phelan
http://www.sqcn.com - Web Development & Management by Sequoia Consulting
http://www.VIRTUssist.com - Secretarial And Virtual Assistant Services
(321)698-7987
Wayne C wrote:
Since most of you members are a bit more in tune with what is
happening in the IT world I'm wondering what you think of the privacy
concerns being raised not only about Google but elsewhere. I'm reading
about full body scanners going into use at airports, surveillance
cameras are everywhere, there is talk of adding rfid chips to cars.
I've heard (but don't have direct knowledge) that you can
surreptitiously add an ap to iPhone so you can track the owner of it.
Is it me or is the world starting to leave Orwell's worst nightmare
in the dust. It's bad enough to trade freedom for safety but to trade
it for the newest flashy technology? If this topic is felt to be
inappropriate for this group then accept my apologies and feel free to
close the thread.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org
http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug
Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium
Dec 2 - MythTV
Jan 6 - Git
_______________________________________________
Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org
http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug
Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium
Dec 2 - MythTV
Jan 6 - Git
