I
started reading a book about the “creepiness” of today’s technologies. Since I was using the non-technologically
advanced method of reading a book by borrowing it from the library, I didn’t quite
finish before it came due. But I read
enough to get the gist: technology is slowly eroding our privacy.
In Technocreep: The surrender of privacy and
the capitalization of intimacy, Thomas Keenan talks about some of the
creepy issues resulting from new technology. Take, for example, that Smart TV you just
bought with the built-in camera. Sounds
like a novel idea, if you like to see over-sized images of your friends on
Skype. But it’s also relatively easy for
a hacker to get into your TV and watch
you from that camera. Same goes for
your smart phone, laptop or tablet.
There are websites now that show real-time videos from hacked laptops,
where a new form of reality TV is occurring.
And about that smart phone you own... There are now
technologies that can monitor shoppers’ movements in malls, by setting up
transmitters that collect the “pings” sent automatically
from your cell phone. This is a way to
pick up on customer’s shopping patterns. While this may sound somewhat benign,
I’m sure there are many other ways to track people with the built-in GPS in your phone.
The feature can be great when wondering why your spouse is late to pick
you up, but imagine a stalker tracking your child’s whereabouts through his or
her smart phone.
Understandably,
there are always safety issues that arise with new technologies. But for young people, especially, it seems a
little too easy for them to be lured into unsafe places, without even leaving
the home. Amanda
Todd is a prime example of this, a young teenager from BC who was stalked
online and black-mailed by a person in the Netherlands, eventually leading to
her suicide.
It’s
easy to be deceived on the Internet, much more so than in person. We can keep our kids away from those on the
street much easier than those lurking in chat rooms and other social media
sites.
I was
always a little leery of Facebook and how much privacy you give up by
participating, but I would feel a bit ostracized if I didn't have access to all my social contacts goings-on (yes, I spy on you through Facebook). If I feel this way as an adult,
imagine how a teenager must feel, when so much of their worth depends upon being accepted in social
circles.
Private
information on websites can potentially be used by anonymous people who want to
cause you harm. But it’s
not only creeps on the Internet, it’s private companies, too. Insurance companies are loving these new
technologies. They can monitor you like
never before, and aren’t hesitant at looking on social media sites to find out
anything they can to build a case against your claims.
Keenan
relates the example of a woman whose disability insurance was cancelled because
her Facebook page showed pictures of her on a beach while suffering
depression. The insurance company
concluded that she was having too good a time to be seriously depressed.
It’s Big Brother monitoring like this that not only violates our privacy, but may also not
tell the whole story. That picture that
your friends took of you doing a jig on a bar table without your pants on 10
years ago may not be the same person who is applying for a job today. Yet that might be the first image that comes
up when the company does a quick Internet search on you (and no, I'm not admitting to anything!)
The
author talks of a whole host of issues that could come up in the next few
years, as people find new ways to invade your privacy, whether you participate
in social media sites or not. Google
Glass is one such technology, where Google has invented a pair of glasses that
serve as mini-computer and video camera that can record without you knowing it.
According
to the author, it won’t be long before facial recognition technology is so
advanced that you’ll simply have to do a scan of someone with these glasses on,
and you’ll know exactly who they are.
You’ll be able to do a quick online search to have all their
background information at your fingertips (like that picture of them doing a jig at the bar 10
years ago).
It’s one creepy technology I hope
doesn’t become mainstream.
So about that jigging...
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