Iris Scan Technology Sees Me Through My Eyes

They say that truth is stranger than fiction.  If you’ve been to a sci-fi movie in the last few years, you might hope they are wrong.  In the movies there are robots that reprogram themselves AND other robots.  Technology that allows people to scan your iris as easy as flashing a light your direction and then can access you spending (and living) history has been used in more than one plot in some shape or fashion.  The scariest thing for me is that iris scan technology (and all the strings that come with it) is close to being a reality in our regular lives.

Iris scans are becoming a part of the present, not just an idea of the future. Schools are using them to guarantee that the right kids are going with the right people.  There is even talk of iris scans for voting machines.

This may be a very sufficient way of identifying people, but it’s still a bit creepy.  I’m not sure I want some machine scanning my brain (or even just part of it).  For that matter, I don’t want a universal program for keeping up with what I do and how I do it – but I digress.

There has to be an easier and less invasive way to protect our children and to advance technology.  Iris scans need to stay in the movies and not become a part of every day life.

 

Surveillance Can Be a Good Thing

When my youngest son was just three months old, some one broke into our home while I was out running errands.  They thieves took some guns that were handed down to my husband, the change jar, the television, the vacuum cleaner, the baby swing, and the baby’s cradle.  It was alarming to come home and find the door wide open and the furniture tossed around.  That day, my husband determined he would find a way to protect our home.

Our first alarm was basic - it sounded if someone entered while the alarm was set or glass was broken.  As the years have passed and the kids have grown (and technology has improved) we have realized that we need more surveillance to keep our family, our home, and our property secure.

Putting surveillance cameras up all around our property is something that is not monetarily feasible at this moment.  It is possible to put up surveillance at the end of our quarter mile drive way and to have a bell sound when someone pulls in.  We’ll continue to have the traditional burglar alarm, with the addition of fire and carbon monoxide. 

It can be scary to think of how much surveillance is going on in the world today.  If you have ever had your home broken into, then the idea may just be one that brings you comfort instead.

 

 

I Am Being Watched

Being paranoid is not in my nature, but I know I’m being watched. Every time I go to the grocery store, there are cameras eyeing me from those dome contraptions in the ceiling. Every time I enter a convenience store or mega mart, somebody is filming my every move. Although terrorism can be partially to blame, there has to be more to the story.

Technology may hold some of the blame. The gadgets get smaller and easier to hide - it has to be used. But the retail industry holds some responsibility. Companies have grown tired of watching their profits walk out the door. Their demands for monitoring are part of what is fueling the technological developments.

All the blame can’t go to the retail industry or to the ingenious technicians coming up with all the new gadgets. Society has not only accepted the invasion, but they seem to be embracing it with open arms. Part of it is frustration out of having to pay higher prices to cover the losses being suffered by retailers. Most of it is fear of what has happened in the past and what could potentially happen in the future.

It seems that being watched will not only have to be an accepted part of my life, but that the invasion will continue to expand. You have wonder when the people will rise up and finally say “it is enough.”

RFID and Technology Makes Parenting Easier

It seems that parents have to go to greater lengths every year to protect their children.  In generations past, a simple warning would usually be sufficient.  As time has passed, and predators have become savvier in the hunt, parents have had to increase their ingenuity with the use of RFID tags, surveillance, and GPS locators.

I want my children to have some of the freedom that I had as a child.  I and my siblings and the neighborhood kids roamed free - for the most part.  We went to the local drug store (which also had a deli) to get candy and ice cream - all without parental supervision.  Usually the only time our parent’s could locate us precisely was around meal time when we would storm into one house or another expecting to be fed.

With all the news reports about missing children, it’s no wonder that parents today are paranoid.  Some of it is hype - a recent news article showed that statistically a child was more likely to be struck by lightning than taken by a stranger - but I still bring my children in when I hear thunder.

It would be nice to go back to the carefree days of my youth, but I do live in reality.  I appreciate what technology is doing to help curb the concerns of today’s parents.

 

 

Invasion of My Private Eye

There are too many people trying to find out about my spending habits.  Every time I make a purchase, it seems some one wants my area code, or zip code, or birth date.  I don’t want these companies finding out about me.  If I get the chance to check the box that says “if you mark this we will not share your information” then you can rest assured I’m checking that box.

Even with all the information that companies can get today, it doesn’t seem to be enough.  Now they don’t just want to know what I’m doing with my money, they want to know what I’m doing with my eyes.  I’m sure that tracking how many people actually look at an ad is beneficial for the advertisers, but it gives me the creeps to know some tiny computer is scanning my retina.

This is only the beginning.  Eventually they will find a way to mark the retina of the people look, or have a code that says exactly who that person is, like in the sci-fi movie with Tom Cruise.  Then they will be able to track whether or not the looker did more than look.

It is enough already.  Make products worth buying, spend the money on the development, and quit worrying so much about the spiffy ads.  And quit trying to read my mind (or at least my eyes).  If my husband hasn’t figured it out, there is no way a computer will ever be able to do it.

 

 

Britain Spies the Most

If you are in Great Britain and you feel like you are being watched, it’s because you are. There is one CCTV camera for every 14 people. In a perfect but eerie “reality imitating art,” there are over 30 cameras with in shouting distance of George Orwell’s home (the author of 1984 - the “big brother” book).

It seems to me that this could be too much of a good thing. With ever success that the government has (catching criminals, getting leads, and other more preventative actions) it seems that more cameras pop up. What started out as a deterrent to crime is quickly becoming the eye of “big brother” aiming to keep the citizens in line and on track with the government’s ways.

I would hate to be they guy who has the job of monitoring all these cameras. Keeping an eye on 4.2 million CCTV cameras has to be mind boggling (not to mention the amount of space the screens take up).

Maintaining order and peace is important. There just has to be a better way of going about it. Is the public use of money best spent spying on the every day lives of ordinary citizens in the hopes that MAYBE something bad might happen?

Somebody’s Watching Me

There’s nothing worse than having the feeling that someone is watching your every move.  I’m not all that paranoid under most circumstances.  Being a work at home mom means that no one would be interested in how I spend my day.  Right?

The movies, the news, and the internet show pictures of ordinary citizens being watched.  It’s unnerving, uncomfortable, and just not right.  One picture I saw was of some poor soul sunbathing topless on her private balcony.  It gave me shivers because I don’t know a woman out there who hasn’t done something along those lines at some point and time.  It never occurred to me that some crazy person might be watching from the sky.    When I moved out of my parents’ home, I also gave up everyone’s right to spy on me.

These are bad times with bad people trying to kill some of the ordinary citizens.  The government is doing what it thinks it must do in order to make life safe.  The trouble comes when these powers are used for evil and not good.  Even worse, when the powers are hijacked by outsiders who have no morals or scruples or anything concern about anyone other than themselves.

There has to be a way to balance the interest of security with the right to privacy.  I just don’t know if it will ever be attained.

 

 

Google Is Taking My Peace

The tax appraiser can by our house to take pictures.  She told me that they would be put in our public records - which any citizen can freely access.  It was a shock to her that I didn’t WANT pictures of my home available to the world.  Her counter was that if someone really wanted to know about my house, they could find it on the internet.

The scary part about my confrontation was that she was right.  As technology continues to get more advanced, my private information becomes less private.  We live in the country - way in the country.  A few years ago, it would have been nearly impossible to find us unless you knew us.  Now, with a few clicks of the mouse, a person can see the layout of our home and even monitor our comings and goings.

Knowing that “Big Brother” could be watching is unnerving enough.  Having the additional awareness that the guy that stalked me for two years after we first got married can see me is much worse.

I want the advancement of technology because of the wonderful things it can do for society.  At the same time, I long for the days when my business was mine alone.  Can a balance ever be found?

 

RFID Could Save Lives

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) could be one of the greatest tools to ever grace the human race.  The medical implications behind the technology are straight out of science fiction.  Unfortunately, so are the covert possibilities – insert ominous music here – that would bring “big brother” into every home.

I am the second child in the family.  Having a big brother was great, when I needed him.  But even the flesh and blood big brother had a tendency to stick his nose into my business when it wasn’t necessary.  If the technology to implant humans became wide spread, freedom might be as fleeting tomorrow as some of my boyfriends were back then.

There are some great potentials for RFID.  My brother is in med school, and the last time he visited we discussed software that allowed them to better diagnose patients.  It got me to thinking.  Wouldn’t it be great if there were some RFID implant that could be attached to patients when they first come into the hospital?  Nothing permanent mind you.  Maybe a tag in the ear, like an earring, that would dissolve in time.  Their personal information and chart could then be brought up on a smart phone, a PDA or a laptop computer.  It would make giving the wrong medication practically obsolete.

The biggest down fall of RFID is the security issue.  A hacker could make his way into a system from some employee using a bad password (ala “Hackers”) and could switch up information.  It is subject to the same concerns of other electronic formats, only with higher consequences if it’s used in the medical community.

Here in lies the dilemma of much of the advancements that have come about through out time.  Are the benefits of things like RFID implants worth the expense to personal freedoms?