Privacy Nothing But A Fairy Tale Now A Days

[Agent_Steal]

In my own personal point of view I think that we no longer have privacy just by reading articles from newspapers, watching the news and reading news of the internet.

For example read this article :

If you're a U.S. citizen, as of today you now have a medical identification number.

http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ea2003/ea_030414.shtml

Then there is also the CCTV systems to me this is more like the ultimate peeping tom tool that any operator could easily abuse. But of course government and private organizations will say but it's for your own good. Now I wonder how is a CCTV system for my own good ? How will it benefit my life knowing that when I walk down the street someone behind that camera is watching me pretty much for a long time.

And of course there is RFID chips.

"RFID Chips Are Here"

http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/169

As for a lot of those who probably think that using regular money will ensure your privacy well maybe you should rethink that thought.

The European Central Bank may embed RFID chips in the euro note.Ostensibly to combat counterfeiters and money-launderers, it would also enable banks to count large amounts of cash in seconds. Unfortunately, such a move would also makes it possible for governments to track the passage of cash from individual to individual. "

Sure cash is still a great way to at least have a little bit of anonymity but I doubt that will last for a very long time.

I guess the only way to truly have Privacy is to go out into the wild and live there forever no electronics and the sort but I doubt that will keep you from peoples prying eyes.

Sounds like a great future doesn't it ?:

Once you buy your RFID-tagged jeans at The Gap with RFID-tagged money, walk out of the store wearing RFID-tagged shoes, and get into your car with its RFID-tagged tires, you could be tracked anywhere you travel.

[MrLinus]

A lot of this depends on the persons behind them. That's the biggest challenge. We are told by the media that we shouldn't trust the government at all. Not all of them are bad. In fact, many couldn't care about individuals nor about getting information on them.

CCTVs: in public places there is no expectation of privacy. Those cameras, however, can be handy. I know here in Toronto they have them on highways. Many people have been saved because those cameras are monitored for accidents. Quicker response factor.

Tracking systems: Whether in money or elsewhere, it's all the "what if" possibilities. Sorta like the sky is falling. People seem to forget how hard it would be a) implement these systems b) implement them without lawsuit (in certain countries) c) enable laws to allow for their implementation.

Right now there is zippo security online. How is any of this different?

On a side note, Privacy and Human Rights 2003 Survey has been released. Did you know the US has no privacy laws?

There is no explicit right to privacy in the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court has ruled that there is a limited constitutional right of privacy based on several provisions in the Bill of Rights. This includes a right to privacy from government surveillance into an area where a person has a "reasonable expectation of privacy" and also in matters relating to marriage, procreation, contraception, family relationships, child rearing and education. Some states within the country have incorporated explicit privacy protections into their state constitutions

[Agent_Steal]

I was just wondering do people in Canada have more privacy over here then in the US? Cause to me it seems like we do.

Of course it all starts with lets put a CCTV system here so that way we can make sure that your ok. But then oh lets put another one here and another one there and then before you know it they can basically follow you anywhere they please until of course you enter your neighboorhood. Just a thought have they ever implemented any CCTV systems into a neighboorhood ?

As for privacy on the internet ever since I began to use it I knew that I would have none.

[nihil]

Praise the Lord!

Just when I was beginning to think that I was paranoid, it seems that I am not?


What about by RFID chipped neutron bomb........you know.......the one with the auxilliary mercury trembler switch

Cheers

[Ennis]

Its all part of that neo-liberal agenda.

[Tim_axe]

If you don't want your RFID tagged money to be tracked, just line your wallet with aluminum foil. Problem solved

Plus RFID (in the US I think) is government regulated. Plus the tech is being pushed to its current limits. The best RFID tag could theoretically be barely read from 19.4 meters away, without any obstructions at all. With the current government regulations, don't expect the read range to get any greater than that, since now the only thing they can do is to somehow reduce interference and build even better chips. Both solutions are prohibitive. I've attached a power-point presentation I found regarding this, converted into JPEG Format to reduce the compressed size (from 2.5 MB to ~1MB)

I got it from some sort of RFID Consortium Website about a month ago. Major companies joined together to dispell fears of RFID. You never know though, this could or could not be a biased presentation... It is still interesting to look at. (I don't have the URL on hand...)

[phishphreek]

CCTVs: in public places there is no expectation of privacy. Those cameras, however, can be handy. I know here in Toronto they have them on highways. Many people have been saved because those cameras are monitored for accidents. Quicker response factor.

I don't really have a problem with CCTV. If you are doing what you are supposed to be doing... then you have no problem.

We just had an incident where I work where someone was mugged right out front. Because several of the companies around us allow their cameras to be linked into by law enforcement... they caught the criminal within minutes of it happening. I was rather amazed to find out that it was the guy who has been trying to get $$ from me everyday on the way out of work. They always have a different story. Now he can tell his stories to Bubba.

[offtopic]
Just a shame that he is still going to get my money... The tax dollars that I pay.... they are going to use to feed and house this creep. These guys that get locked up and earn money should have to put the money right back into the system. They shouldn't be able to keep a dime.

[Agent_Steal]

Naw nihil I think that all of us can become paranoid at one point some more than others.

Now I was also thinking about EMP bombs humm so maybe if someone puts a chip in me I'll just build me one of these and make that chip useless .... [ hehehe ]. Maybe I should be a little more worried about things like EMP bombs.

click this link to learn more about the EMP Bomb:
http://popularmechanics.com/science/...mb/print.phtml

But I still dont like the idea of being tracked all the time. Just something about it gives me the shivers up my spine [ .... shivers .... ].

[valhallen]

well the UK is the worst country in the world for CCTV - with more cameras per head than any other country...

There are 25 million CCTV cameras in operation worldwide, with 2.5 million in the UK.

now when you think of the general size of the UK in relation to the size of the rest of the world along with its population density it isn't that much but yet we have 10% of the worlds CCTV cameras o_O

According to statistics, the average citizen is caught on CCTV cameras 300 times a day.

300 times(!?) now i know i have seen alot of cameras - and each day i could prolly name about 6/8 that i walk past just going to work and home again - with about another 10/12 in work - but 300??? I guess they must mean 300 instances when your caught on camera - which would make more sense as cameras in work prolly record me 6/10 times each durring the course of the day

So the UK goes a little bit overboard with cameras - well analysts are predicting a tenfold increase in CCTV in the UK in the next five years. Where are they gonna find room for them all?? they're gonna have to build new lamposts just to put cameras on!!

but only a fraction of cameras so far are digital - the current cameras are mostly Analogue. the difference(!?)

Analogue only records about 5% of what is going on, whereas digital systems can record everything and there is no deterioration in the quality

Digital cameras can also be networked together, something not possible with analogue because the signal has to be sent along a dedicated line and can travel no further than about 170 kilometres (100 miles).

Brussels airport is currently testing 700 new digital cameras.....

just one example of how bad things are camera wise in UK - a typical town :::
In Reading town centre alone, there are 327 CCTV camera
a handful on the street
140 in the shopping centre
161 in the main carpark.

all figures taken from BBC News

v_Ln

[Agent_Steal]

Now networking cameras together humm that doesn't sound good valhallen. Imagine what crackers could do with so much info available to them when they manage to crack into a system like that. All the digital video they could obtain and well do whatever they wanted with it. I stiil dont think that CCTV systems are good. What's next hidden cameras just to make sure that I am ok ? I dont think so.

Off Topic: I was born in a country were violence is all around you. Well basically you dont wanna walk around with a gold watch unless if well you want to end up dead on the road or have a good beating .... Central America, El Salvador .....