Date: 3/3/02

From: libertymls@yahoo.com
http://www.seattlepress.com/print-9464.html

By Deborah Pierce

Feb 14, 2002 -- Cameras everywhere, national ID cards, GPS chips implanted under the skin--the latest sci-fi dystopia novel? No, just the latest newspaper stories. As I read these stories, I think about what kind of a society we are building. What comes to mind is not George Orwell and Big Brother, but Jeremy Bentham and the Panopticon.

Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, political theorist, and founder of utilitarianism. In 1791, he came up with a design for a unique prison: a Panopticon. The panoptic prison would be designed so that the guards stationed at the center of the prison could observe each of the prisoners at all times, but the prisoners could never observe the guards and so would never know when they were being watched. This design would theoretically lead to better behavior on the part of the prisoners.

In the 1970s French philosopher Michel Foucault took Mr. Bentham's idea for a prison one step further: he used it as a metaphor at a societal level. Foucault noted that the potential for complete information about a person coupled with pervasive observation could lead citizens to modify their own behaviors to fit into certain accepted categories in order to escape calling attention to themselves.

Today, technologies exist that come close to making Foucault's metaphor a reality. Here are a few examples that highlight the pervasive and intrusive nature of current monitoring capabilities that are used by business and government, and that are increasingly being shared between them. As you read through the list, ask yourself, who will be seeing the data being collected? It's a long list: the people, businesses or governmental agencies who are authorized to have access to the data; insurance companies, marketers, and employers who might purchase the rights to it; and, if the data is not stored securely, potentially anybody else.

* The "Klever-Kart" is a grocery store cart that tracks you as you move down the aisles, in order to "serve you better." Records of your purchases are stored in a database.

"Onboard assistance" GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) systems in new upscale cars not only let you know where you are, but let the company providing the service know where you are--and where you've been.

* Implantable ID chips (such as Applied Digital Solutions', currently used to monitor vital signs of heart patients) identify you uniquely and will, in the near future, be able to track your movements precisely. Right now use of the chips is voluntary--but suppose it became mandatory?

* Cameras in public places are popping up everywhere; particularly those equipped with facial recognition software. What happens to the pictures and videos they take? Next time you're outside, count them ... hint: Look for them at intersections, along highways, mounted on the sides of buildings, etc. For a fun (yet chilling) way of seeing the pervasiveness of these cameras go to

http://www.appliedautonomy.com/isee/ and see how long it will take you
to get from Point A to Point B following the "path of least surveillance."