RFID Warning Ring
Engadget has a post about a WiFi Detector Ring that will light up to let you know when you're in range of a WiFi hotspot. This would be a cool idea, if it would let you know that the hotspot is unlocked and connects to the internet.
What I would dearly love to see, though, would be a ring that lights up whenever I'm being scanned for RFID chips. These are the tiny tracking devices that may soon be commonly embedded in your clothes and other purchases from WalMart and other stores, so they can be tracked automatically, without passing over a laser scanner. Just walk past the detector and it knows all the RFID chips you're carrying. The chips won't necessarily be deactivated, which means anyone with the right equipment could scan you at any time and see what tagged items you have with you. Just another incredible invasion of privacy that nobody seems to be doing much to stop.
Blog Tag: Opinion
Posted 2/10/2005 03:18:00 PM
L
On 2/11/2005 7:31 AM, 
Claude Covo-Farchi said...
On 2/13/2005 2:45 PM, dkgoodman said...
2 Comments:
This is really scary... Worse than anything Orwell had thought of in "1985"
I agree, Claude. Different people have different "litmus tests" for politicians. Some won't vote for a politician who is pro-choice, regardless of the politician's stance on other issues. Some won't vote for anyone pro-life. Or anyone Republican, or anyone against gun control. We've lost a sense of balance, I think, all become too polarized.
I recognize that on some issues, there is a large portion of the population opposed to my viewpoint. A good politician would represent all of their constituents, not just the ones who voted for the politician, and so I have some forgiveness for politicians with whom I agree on many things if they differ on some points.
There are other litmus tests that I wish were more prominent, that more people screamed about. Ones that I don't foresee being opposed by much of the population.
Privacy issues. Why should companies be allowed to amass information about my private life? Worse, why should they be allowed to share and sell that information to others. If that information has value, then when my information is sold it is I who should reap the rewards. I'm all for increasing economic efficiency and promoting the growth of business, but not at the expense of the citizens. Citizen rights should trump business rights. Companies should not be allowed to sell or share information about me, or to send my personal data overseas, without my permission. That's a big issue for me, but it doesn't seem to resonate with a large enough segment of the population.
Copyright law and patent law. These laws were intended to promote research and the creation of works of art or literature by assuring that the creator was provided a return on their efforts. It was not meant to prevent people from enjoying the results of research or published works. These laws have been extended to give the owners of copyrights and patents a monopolistic hold over their creations much longer than originally intended, to the detriment of the people. The length of protection should be shortened, and the range of property that can be protected should be reduced. Companies should not be able to patent living organisms, or processes that would have been discovered without intensive research. Citizens should not be prevented from enjoying their purchase of music or movies on whatever equipment they possess, or be prevented from making backups of their purchase. The movie and record companies wail about the morality of citizens pirating their work, yet those same companies have a long history of unethical conduct.
But enough ranting.
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