moldybluecheesecurds 2

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The unintended consequences of synthesizing government and technology

As technology becomes more sophisticated, government has access to more information about its citizens as a matter of course. Is this a problem?

It can be
I blogged previously about the addition of a "black box" in cars for the purposes of collecting crash data - now used by insurance companies to offer discounts for good driving (or perhaps as proof of bad driving?). And in Britain, it's just been revealed that the camera system used for assessing congestion fees will now be used regularly by anti-terror police, despite earlier assurances to the contrary.

I've got nothing to hide
Some folks argue that privacy concerns are hyperbole - that law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear from greater surveillance.

What privacy really means
GWU Professor Daniel Solove explores the fallacy of this argument in this compelling essay: "'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy"

1 comment:

muxhut said...

'Unintended'? You're kidding, right?