Reality Out of Sync

The BBC has an article discusses a company producing a technology that allows people to track others with a cell phone. The short of it, is that the technology uses the motion of the cell phone accelerometers to track even small movements with the built-in GPS of the phone. For those of you not in the know, GPS is used for positional tracking and is pretty accurate down to a couple feet at least. Interestingly, I discovered how accurate the GPS was with my iphone (company purchased, I wouldn’t ever buy one — I prefer the Android platform). I needed to get to a restaurant and I’d forgotten to write down the address, but I remembered the street. With a neato keen application called “Around Me” I was able to track my distance to the door of the restaurant within at least 5 feet. How incredibly useful!

Now imagine that your boss can see with a pretty precise degree where you are, and with this new technology in the mobile phone from KDDI, you’ll be comforted by the fact that your employer (or snooping wife/stalker/private investigator/police/friendly neighborhood government agent) will know if you’re actively moving around or standing still while you’re out of sight and where you might be doing it. I really don’t think I’d be too terribly happy if my employer started micromanaging my time by ensuring that i was being productive based solely on whether my phone is moving about enough for his/her standards.

“Hmm, prata has gone over his 3 minute time limit on bathroom privileges. We’ll have to write him up and remove one of his bathroom breaks to make up for the lost productivity.”

Nevermind I was spending those minutes actually at my desk and working, but I dropped my phone on my way from or to the bathroom. Or what if I leave my phone at my desk, but have done 6 tickets and rectified numerous problems. I sense lots of signing discussions with the higher ups. Yeah. I don’t like this technology at all.

Why is it I know no girls that enjoy wearing skirts like this? Sad.

Parents, your children’s safety has just increased ten fold! Well, if you live in the Merion School District that is, because apparently when your child enrolls they use a laptop to monitor their behavior. Salvation for all the lazy parents that think that school is just a day care center for their children! This sort of thing just freaks me right on out. It’s under the guise of protecting the children, but I like to call it ensuring loyalty. Not that I’m a big 1984 fan or anything like that =-P

Interestingly, I heard a commercial for something called Safe Link. I won’t link to it because I do not want to contribute to any page hits they get; however, I’ll tell you all about it! Safe Link Wireless isn’t terribly new apparently. It’s been in production since early last year; however, the commercial was definitely new to me. Basically, you get a government funded call phone with an allotment of minutes per month and voicemail (for free!).

I wonder how safe it is to use that phone. Do you think that the government can listen in on that phone whenever they want without any risk of a litigation? I wonder, maybe I’m being paranoid. I can just see this being used (it’s targeted at a demographic that has a statistical likelihood of participating in illegal activities) as a way to more easily capture criminals and spy upon the law abiding citizen. And really, do they need to make it any easier than it already happens to be now? Jeez. I know someone that has one of these phones and they talk about all manner of things that would build a very accurate picture of their daily activities, illicit or not.

I don’t think the government should be funding big business, I’m pretty sure everyone is sick of that, and Tracfone (the provider that was listed in the commercial) does some pretty decent business last time I checked. They have over 12 million customers according to some googling I did. Disheartening.

Yah, I like it with the glasses on.

What happens when you happen to be in the same area as a murder that takes place? Well, generally, nothing if you weren’t a witness or victim. You go about your daily life. Imagine how confused one might be to discover that they have become the suspect in this murder for just having been in the general vicinity of this place. No one reported you being there, no one even gave a description of you. No, you are being questioned because your records were obtained from a fishing expedition of cell phone location records. That sounds far fetched, right? Yah, it is. On the other hand, how far can things possibly get out of hand if this happens? I’m sure it wouldn’t go so far as the scenario I’ve put forth, but then again who knows. I’m not terribly paranoid, but this seems like just one more erosion of constitutional rights and privacy in general.

I don’t think I want the Feds (or anyone for that matter) to be able to pull my location data to check up on where I may or may not have been. Just like I don’t answer questions for the national census, I don’t plan on randomly giving out location data (which is why I have location services turned off on my cell phones) to people. I value my privacy (and the privacy of people that may be with me for whatever reason).  No matter how many petitions I sign, how many letters I write, the erosion of my rights just keeps happening. It just doesn’t seem to be letting up. How long is 9/11 (maybe not in this specific case, but it’s still an excuse that appears to carry weight in the US) going to be used to hang fear over our heads and take away our rights as individuals and citizens? Maybe this is the last year…riiiiight.

Unnamed Officer =-(

.....we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our Internets, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. --The Pirate Bay

..is in hand. I will not ever surrender. I will not ever give up money I worked hard to earn to a conglomerate who cheats those I wish to support. You may stop some of us, but you can’t stop us all. Never sit idly by as injustice runs amok, and your government gives away your rights to knowledge for profit. Remember Steamboat Willy! Remember the sequel to the Catcher in the Rye!

We have, ourselves, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our Internets, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone.

Even though large parts of Internets and many old and famous trackers have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Ifpi and all the odious apparatus of MPAA rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the ef-nets and darknets, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Internets, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the baywords.org, we shall fight on the /. and on the digg, we shall fight in the courts; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, the Internets or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the Anon Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in Cerf’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.

Signed;

The Pirate Bay Crew – Always when needed.

Oh I don’t know what I was thinking when this got missed. ^_^ Enjoy!