APP - The Patrician Thread II

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THE TOPIC FROM 03/09 - 03/16: The intersection of technology and privacy

​We live in a world of rapid technological expansion. In the last decade facebook alone has acquired 1/7th the entires world population on their site.

We are tracked by ads, profiles of us are built up from our amazon purchases, and generally speaking, humans are having more and more of their lives cataloged.

In the future, the line between our personal space and the external world is becoming increasingly blurred. Take a look at google glass:


This product is due out this year, btw.

Data storage is becoming increasingly cheap. It wont be long when we'll be able to record our whole lives and back it up to cloud storage.

If you combine things like google glass, with other rapidly improving technologies such as facial recognition, it's hard to imagine a world where those interfaces aren't linked, and you'll be able to walk down the street and instantly know peoples health status, wealth, political beliefs, sexual orientation, who else their friends with, where they are from, where they go to school, criminal history etc.

And of course, regular people won't be the only ones with this info. Governments and corporations will have all this data as well.

I would like to discuss the implications of the above. Whether it be in 5 years, 10 years, 20 or 50, I see this type of future as inevitable. In some capacity this is the type of future we are heading towards.

I don't view all of this as doom and gloom though. There are plenty of upsides to the above as well. People may be more connected (at least, superficially) people may be able to readily identify and find people that they would get along with. Like all things, there is good and bad.

What do you feel are the pros and cons of this type of technology emerging? Does this type of world scare you? Or are you ready to embrace it? How do you feel this will alter human culture and our interactions with people? Will we get to a point where we immediately filter out those without bothering to learn other things about them? Could this prevent us from former deeper bonds and relationships? And do you think there is a future for a private life?
 
Two tech points involving use of the term "google."

1) I don't think it will be long before we have storage devices that can hold the magical google number on them. We are already at multi-terrabytes and counting. The nice thing is that they are keeping the cost down on these devices, and hard drives/laptops aren't really getting any more expensive, even though each model generally holds more storage space than its predecessors. Honestly, I don't think storage is really the question - when we get to googlebyte storage, will the files/programs be significantly advanced in size and quality to need googlebytes of space for them?

2) I just heard about "Google Glasses," on the local news this evening. Apparently, some Seattle club has already placed a ban on these upon its premises.
 
there will obviously be short term reactions, and I don't want this to turn into a debate JUST on google glass, it was merely one example. The point is technologies like that are becoming increasingly part of everyday life. Smartphones pretty much already do what google glass does just slightly more inconveniently. The other thing is that this is a long term game... as more and more people are USED to having so much of themselves online, tracked, and filed away then I think it will only lead us to a place where this type of stuff is ubiquitous.
 
It's funny how accustomed we become to our technologies. I purachased my first cell phone in Jan. 2008 (people were starting to look at me and my phone card all weird), and it was a simple Razr, right as the smartphone industry was about to explode. I owned the Razr for exactly four years, and began to wonder how the fuck I had survived all but my final semester of college without it.

Last year in January, I bought an HTC Windows Phone named the Radar. Now it's a huge part of my life, and has functioned as my internet during times when I didn't have an alternative. I frequently post on this site from it.
 
Google Glass is actually an idea I had thought of years ago, with the advent of digital cameras. It's a little more advanced, my idea was just for a camera or camcorder incorporated into a pair of glasses, which would record in loops continuously. If you saw something you wanted to save, you could capture it from the loop for permanent storage. What made me think of it, was all of the times people see something that would make a great picture, or something unbelievable, but they didn't have a camera ready, so they missed it. This is a frustration many photographers experience daily. Of course, my idea also didn't include an interface with online, like Glass.

To get back on topic here, because we are talking about privacy, there are some other examples worthy of mention. Obama recently signed an executive order to mandate "black box" technology in all cars from 2014 on. Numerous municipal governments have started using "smart meters" to monitor energy usage. These are literally electronic invasions of our privacy. Obamacare fanatics continue to talk of implanting a "medical chip" in everyone, and having a universal database with all our medical information. It seems almost Orwellian, but it is happening more and more everyday. Regardless of how we feel about it, I don't know what we can do to stop it.

Another interesting thing I would like to interject here, and I know it will raise some ire, but it's worthy of a mention. The Bible speaks of the "end of days" and how things will be, and while it doesn't predict Google Glass, it does say that "men will become wiser and weaker." When you consider we now have a generation of Americans who don't know what it's like to live without an electronic device of some kind, it's chilling. Indeed, we are becoming wiser and weaker.
 
Dixie said:
Google Glass is actually an idea I had thought of years ago, with the advent of digital cameras. It's a little more advanced, my idea was just for a camera or camcorder incorporated into a pair of glasses, which would record in loops continuously. If you saw something you wanted to save, you could capture it from the loop for permanent storage. What made me think of it, was all of the times people see something that would make a great picture, or something unbelievable, but they didn't have a camera ready, so they missed it. This is a frustration many photographers experience daily. Of course, my idea also didn't include an interface with online, like Glass.

To get back on topic here, because we are talking about privacy, there are some other examples worthy of mention. Obama recently signed an executive order to mandate "black box" technology in all cars from 2014 on. Numerous municipal governments have started using "smart meters" to monitor energy usage. These are literally electronic invasions of our privacy. Obamacare fanatics continue to talk of implanting a "medical chip" in everyone, and having a universal database with all our medical information. It seems almost Orwellian, but it is happening more and more everyday. Regardless of how we feel about it, I don't know what we can do to stop it.

Another interesting thing I would like to interject here, and I know it will raise some ire, but it's worthy of a mention. The Bible speaks of the "end of days" and how things will be, and while it doesn't predict Google Glass, it does say that "men will become wiser and weaker." When you consider we now have a generation of Americans who don't know what it's like to live without an electronic device of some kind, it's chilling. Indeed, we are becoming wiser and weaker.
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:hand:
 
New technologies always bring these concerns, will they be used to advance humankind or will they be used aginst us, but humans are great at adapting, so far.

I look forward to virtual reality, I always wanted my husband to be able to experience the feeling of pregnancy, the fetus inside me moving.

I would find it comforting to be able to walk into a hospital anywhere I traveled and for them to have access to my medical information, but privacy laws need to be enacted to protect me from those that would use this information against me.

I can not imagine returning to a time where immediate access to information is not available, although we have seen to cons of this as well in all the disinformation that guilible people believe. Lol

Dixie, what a stretch, my fortune cookie predicted I would have a happy life! It was right!

We also have generations who have never lived without electricity and antibiotics.

What is wrong with wiser? Weaker, in the respect we let machines do our work? Or morally weaker and that is another debate.
 
Rana said:
New technologies always bring these concerns, will they be used to advance humankind or will they be used aginst us, but humans are great at adapting, so far.

I look forward to virtual reality, I always wanted my husband to be able to experience the feeling of pregnancy, the fetus inside me moving.

I would find it comforting to be able to walk into a hospital anywhere I traveled and for them to have access to my medical information, but privacy laws need to be enacted to protect me from those that would use this information against me.

I can not imagine returning to a time where immediate access to information is not available, although we have seen to cons of this as well in all the disinformation that guilible people believe. Lol

Dixie, what a stretch, my fortune cookie predicted I would have a happy life! It was right!

We also have generations who have never lived without electricity and antibiotics.

What is wrong with wiser? Weaker, in the respect we let machines do our work? Or morally weaker and that is another debate.
Click to expand...

Stretch? All I said was what is in the Bible. I didn't say I believe the Bible or the Bible is right, just that's what it says. That's not a stretch, that's the truth. In fact, the book of Revelations cites many details and occurrences surrounding the end of days, and some of them are remarkable, given recent world history and historic events. Granted, some of this is like reading Nostradamus, we can derive all kinds of meanings and parallels, but it certainly seems to be an accurate prediction, that men will become wiser and weaker.
 
I think part of the question here is, how important is privacy to you? It's extraordinary important to me. There are time I need to be antisocial and be by myself. Not all the world needs to know what and what I am, I like to hold some of that back just for myself. That goes for my activities too. On the one hand I do enjoy the ease, opportunity and low cost of now being able to reach out to people who live just a tad farther than around the corner.

So on the one hand I don't like my activities (no matter how seemingly benign) being serreptitously documented by observers (including but by no means limited too the government) with an agenda who would use that information to manipulate me or abuse/violate my legal protections. I don't like the idea of being spied apon. I think this type of observation requires the consent of the observed......but that's another debate.

Yet on the other hand the way technology can be used to record and distribute media and content at incredibly low cost is awesome. It's a cool way to show information about your life but some people do seem compelled to share everything.

Then there's this question, since almost all this technical media is funneled and distributed through the internet (and clouds), considering there nature and architecture how much of an expectation of privacy can their be and I don't mean that from just a legal sense either but as a practical matter. That's just the nature of the internet. Only a very small minute amount of data on the internet is truly private and you have to go through extraordinary hoops to make it truly private. So when I'm on the web I don't really have any expectations of privacy, with a few exceptions, and I act accordingly.
 
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Rana said:
New technologies always bring these concerns, will they be used to advance humankind or will they be used aginst us, but humans are great at adapting, so far.

I look forward to virtual reality, I always wanted my husband to be able to experience the feeling of pregnancy, the fetus inside me moving.

I would find it comforting to be able to walk into a hospital anywhere I traveled and for them to have access to my medical information, but privacy laws need to be enacted to protect me from those that would use this information against me.

I can not imagine returning to a time where immediate access to information is not available, although we have seen to cons of this as well in all the disinformation that guilible people believe. Lol

Dixie, what a stretch, my fortune cookie predicted I would have a happy life! It was right!

We also have generations who have never lived without electricity and antibiotics.

What is wrong with wiser? Weaker, in the respect we let machines do our work? Or morally weaker and that is another debate.
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But that's really data protection Rana. That's not the same thing as privacy. On the internet you don't really have privacy. You just have options to limit the numbers of people who have access to your data, it's not truly private. Ever.
 
Dixie said:
Google Glass is actually an idea I had thought of years ago, with the advent of digital cameras. It's a little more advanced, my idea was just for a camera or camcorder incorporated into a pair of glasses, which would record in loops continuously. If you saw something you wanted to save, you could capture it from the loop for permanent storage. What made me think of it, was all of the times people see something that would make a great picture, or something unbelievable, but they didn't have a camera ready, so they missed it. This is a frustration many photographers experience daily. Of course, my idea also didn't include an interface with online, like Glass.

To get back on topic here, because we are talking about privacy, there are some other examples worthy of mention. Obama recently signed an executive order to mandate "black box" technology in all cars from 2014 on. Numerous municipal governments have started using "smart meters" to monitor energy usage. These are literally electronic invasions of our privacy. Obamacare fanatics continue to talk of implanting a "medical chip" in everyone, and having a universal database with all our medical information. It seems almost Orwellian, but it is happening more and more everyday. Regardless of how we feel about it, I don't know what we can do to stop it.

Another interesting thing I would like to interject here, and I know it will raise some ire, but it's worthy of a mention. The Bible speaks of the "end of days" and how things will be, and while it doesn't predict Google Glass, it does say that "men will become wiser and weaker." When you consider we now have a generation of Americans who don't know what it's like to live without an electronic device of some kind, it's chilling. Indeed, we are becoming wiser and weaker.
Click to expand...
Well Dixie I would argue that in something like the biochip, yea you're right. It's fundamentally spooky. Someone would instantly have access to your entire biological/medical history which is not information you would want made public. It's a power that could be easily abused with significant impacts on those whom would be the victims. So those are fundamentally important moral/ethical questions about privacy protection.

On the other hand....wow...snap...crackle...pop Dixie! It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out how freaken important that information would be to a physician......and it's instantly available. This technology would save lives. Are the sacrifices in privacy made by using this technology worth the advantages?

That's a tough question. If your in an accident and you have pre-existing conditions, drug allergies, recent injuries, etc, etc, this can be life saving information made instantly available to trained persons who can really make good use from that information. Of course they can do the same thing with an electronic medical card.....but you don't lose biochips.....you do lose cards.
 
Mott the Hoople said:
Well Dixie I would argue that in something like the biochip, yea you're right. It's fundamentally spooky. Someone would instantly have access to your entire biological/medical history which is not information you would want made public. It's a power that could be easily abused with significant impacts on those whom would be the victims. So those are fundamentally important moral/ethical questions about privacy protection.

On the other hand....wow...snap...crackle...pop Dixie! It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out how freaken important that information would be to a physician......and it's instantly available. This technology would save lives. Are the sacrifices in privacy made by using this technology worth the advantages?

That's a tough question. If your in an accident and you have pre-existing conditions, drug allergies, recent injuries, etc, etc, this can be life saving information made instantly available to trained persons who can really make good use from that information. Of course they can do the same thing with an electronic medical card.....but you don't lose biochips.....you do lose cards.
Click to expand...

I can absolutely guarantee that the supposed health benefits of an implanted chip are nothing but a cover story for one-world fascists who want implanted chips for the same reason dog owners use them.

We (Nero) debate (fiddles) while the US (Rome) falls into tyranny (burns).
 
Mott the Hoople said:
Well Dixie I would argue that in something like the biochip, yea you're right. It's fundamentally spooky. Someone would instantly have access to your entire biological/medical history which is not information you would want made public. It's a power that could be easily abused with significant impacts on those whom would be the victims. So those are fundamentally important moral/ethical questions about privacy protection.

On the other hand....wow...snap...crackle...pop Dixie! It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out how freaken important that information would be to a physician......and it's instantly available. This technology would save lives. Are the sacrifices in privacy made by using this technology worth the advantages?

That's a tough question. If your in an accident and you have pre-existing conditions, drug allergies, recent injuries, etc, etc, this can be life saving information made instantly available to trained persons who can really make good use from that information. Of course they can do the same thing with an electronic medical card.....but you don't lose biochips.....you do lose cards.
Click to expand...

You know..... Sometimes I think, I am glad that I am 53 years old, and probably won't be around long enough to see our civilization spiral down the toilet... then I read something like what you just posted, and it worries me that I may indeed see it after all.
 
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