Eye Spy: Technology Is Constantly Keeping Tabs On You

His data trail, along with the movements of almost every other citizen, is increasingly being archived -- every Internet search remaining on a computer, every call logged by providers, the records on his shopping cards culled for his likes, his licence plate photographed on toll highways and even his own face shot at every angle while on his way to buy milk. A quick search of popular social sites brings up everything from his birthdate to his religion. Soon, the clothes he wears could be bugged -- transmitting his choice of boxers or briefs to shop owners. While Calgary has joined a number of other Canadian cities in debating the need for closed-circuit TV cameras in crime-ridden areas of their downtown -- Mayor Dave Bronconnier said in March that the security value of the electronic eyes was a "no-brainer" -- the question of personal privacy seems to have been largely settled in this country. And around the world. The average Londoner is now photographed some 300 times a day, yet their rate of street crime is increasing. In Israel, a Palestinian, strapped with explosives, walked onto a crowded bus as a surveillance helicopter watched from directly overhead. He blew himself up, murdering 19 people along the way. In 2001, police in Tampa used controversial face-recognition software to show reporters how their cameras were working. The man, Rob Milliron, wasn't wanted for any crime and held a good job at a construction site. But after the image was published, a woman mistakenly thought he looked like a man wanted for child support. Police showed up at his work. But despite some red flags, every day, in too many ways to keep track of, most of us trust technology and readily give up -- for security or financial ease or a default setting or a feeling that we can't control such things -- the need to keep the most intimate details of our lives to ourselves. Privacy is now just in our heads. Everything else, potentially, belongs to strangers we've never met. Much more at: http://www.winnipegsun.com/Series/EyeSpy/2007/04/15/pf-4023301.html

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