A gentleman named Isaac Daniel has developed a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device that is embedded in sneakers. He claims that a false report of his son being missing spawned his invention, and yet the device is currently only in adult sneakers. Daniel said, "We call it a second eye watching over you." Umm....creepy....
And some neuro-scientists have set us on the path towards a Minority Report society where we can punish people for actions they have not yet committed. They have developed a brain scan that is capable of determining what actions you intend to take. One test for the brain scan involved researchers telling participants they would have to decide whether to add or subtract two numbers placed before them. Prior to showing the numbers to the participants, the researchers scanned their brains and were able to determine with 70% accuracy which decision the participants were going to make.
Ian Sample, in the Guardian, writes "The research breaks controversial new ground in scientists' ability to probe people's minds and eavesdrop on their thoughts, and raises serious ethical issues over how brain-reading technology may be used in the future." Well guess what... I don't wany anyone spying on my thoughts.
Nor do I want them to be able to track me through my shoes (or my phone, or my car, or some chip in my hand that will mean I don't have to carry cash around with me). Obviously I am out of luck.
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The original post was written and posted here. I made some modifications and rewrote the title for the BiP Project's Week 2 task.
It does make one fantasize about living off the grid. I always figure that once stuff like this becomes public knowledge,it's already been going on for years anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is creepy, isn't it? The idea of being judged based on our thoughts is the worst though. If they are truly going to go all Minority Report on us, then they better build bigger jails because almost every human would be arrested based on their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you! I read The Broken Window by Deaver last year and learned lots of creepy things that are taking place just through what we buy and our use of anything but cash. And this whole brain scan thing is crazy. Since when is 70% accuracy good enough to start pidgeon-holing people Crazy.
ReplyDeleteVery unnerving, isn't it? I was just reading an article about a high school that issued a laptop to each of its students with a web cam installed so they could keep tabs on the user. They claimed, reasonably, that they needed this to prevent theft. But they actually *used* it to invade someone's privacy when the student was at home.
ReplyDeleteNicole - That is a scary thought. I have to wonder if we've already been implanted....
ReplyDeleteMichelle - I agree. My thoughts from time to time are certainly far from pure.
Stacy - I will have to read that book! Feed my paranoia.
Stephanie - That is terrifying! And at a school just makes it worse for some reason.
If they read my mind, they'd know I'd be thinking of the wrong number!
ReplyDeleteBig deep breaths. :) My company can pretty much track me down to the minute via my credit card activity and phone use, just about any cell phone user can be tracked to their location as well. Since I every now and then have customers ask me lovely questions like "How long would it take someone to notice if you go missing?"...I kinda like that feature.
ReplyDeleteThere are other things that creep me out a bit more, like Police baiting. Did you know that the cops in Chicago actually bait poor people into crimes? They will arrange for a loaded Escalade to somehow end up in the poorest areas unlocked, and then they just sit around and wait for someone to try to steal it. Once someone does they use OnStar type tech to disable the car and lock the person into the vehicle.
If this post is disjointed very sorry, it's 3:30 and I'm sleepy but somehow not sleeping :)
Jessica - The tracking stuff is a double-edged sword. It is great to find lost people but it does have a bit of Orwellian we-must-know-where-everyone-is-at-all-times feel to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that it doesn't, just for work purposes and safety I love it and have fully given over to big brother :) 95% of my job is traveling, I sleep in a hotel room more often each year than I do my own bed. I can see how it could be scary, but due to necessity I have become desensitized.
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