What privacy?
Ouch! Ouch! My robot won’t stop zapping me with his electric punishment electrode – so much for Asimov’s first law of robotics. He says it’s for my own good – and for the good of humanity. He says I need to try to clear my head and make some sense of all these privacy issues that are raining down from all directions.
But the truth is, I don’t know where to start. There are so many issues swimming around in my head – e-mail privacy at work, the release of YouTube users’ records, Internet monitoring through Telecoms, RFID chips, airport officials confiscating laptops, ISPs letting companies track our web journeys, etc. – that I’ve been putting off writing about anything at all.
One of the first places we can turn to in order to start making sense of it all is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and it’s quite a nice website, too. The EFF follows all major developments in the digital age that affect our rights and liberties, and helps you get involved.
Although it’s especially relevant for US citizens, it’s a treasure chest of accessible information that does or could affect anyone using digital devices and information. A quick look on its home page shows debate on a range of issues: bloggers’ rights, e-mail privacy, security, telecom immunity and travel screening.
In a few days, I’ll be flying into Canada, which apparently just recently ushered in a new bill giving airports the right to search the content of laptops. Apparently, there wasn’t much debate about the bill and its consequences until it was too late – just try searching for it online. A lot of people aren’t too happy, but can they do anything about it now? I hope so.
If I was carrying a diary or a folder of confidential work documents, would I have to hand those over for inspection, too? I wonder what they’d do if I left my battery out? Should I try? Better not risk it.
A word of caution, don’t leave the battery out! I remember flying within Canada, a few years ago, with my laptop, and they make you turn it on, just to prove it works, that it actually is a laptop and not something else! They might confiscate it, if you left the battery out and it wouldn’t power on. Now what would happen if you had an old thing that didn’t run on the battery anymore, or something? I have one of those too, I don’t think I’d risk taking it. But how is that different than work files or a diary? Simply because it is electronic?
But as stated, nobody really heard about that bill, before it went through. I believe a lot of pressure was applied by the US to push it through. They want the power as well. People are not happy about it, now that they realize just how compromising it is. Classified work documents, company secrets, etc, it’s all out there for the taking if it’s on your laptop. Pretty invasive! I’m sure there will be court challenges though. I just hope the courts are up to speed enough to realize what is actually involved. They tend to be very tech ignorant!
sammyqc
July 9, 2008 at 3:46 pm