Privacy and public spaces (was: Complacency)

[Russell Turpin]

The downside to this technology is that association
is no longer private. Everyone with the dime to 
pay for a report will know your political, religious, 
social, and sexual associations. Or the question 
can be asked the other way around. Who are all 
the people who attend church X? Who are all the 
people who attended meetings for cause Y? Who
are all the people who were seen having dinner
with Z?

In the past, it was possible to hire detectives to
answer this kind of question. But (a) this was 
expensive, (b) detailed itineraries were especially
expensive, and had to be requested before the 
fact, and (c) there were ways to protect against 
this, if groups or individuals so desired. If city
street cameras become common and their 
images archived .. well, that will be an interesting
change.

Russell