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Nov 06 2005

Profile Image of M. D. Benoit
M. D. Benoit

Pizza Ordering in the Future

Posted at 4:55 pm under Commentary

My friend Ron Purvis sent me this link that made me giggle at first, and then on second thought I found quite scary. The video is from the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). They developed this video in reaction to the REAL ID bill Bush wants passed. In particular,

The government and corporations are aggressively collecting information about your personal life and your habits. They want to track your purchases, your medical records, and even your relationships. The Bush Administration’s policies, coupled with invasive new technologies, could eliminate your right to privacy completely.

Scary indeed. It’s done already, not as extensively but pretty thoroughly, by banks. And recently, my husband had to get a visit clearance to work on his client’s site. He went to an interview and was amazed at the kind of information they had on him: the fact that he was married, what I did for a (non) living, how much money we owed the bank, where we lived, the state of our mortgage…

Credit card companies are now able to track our purchases and determine if the card was stolen simply by the break in your buying pattern; so do systems such as Air Miles, where they can track where you buy and what you buy. We do blissfully buy into it.

The ACLU has another legitimate concern:

[...] legislation passed by Congress will create a ripe target for identity thieves by allowing the government to compile your most personal information — such as your name, address, photo, birth certificate, social security number and perhaps even your DNA — into a national database. Thousands of government employees will have access to this giant network, dramatically increasing the risk of your personal information being stolen.”

Although the ACLU video is a bit over the top, a similar situation could happen. Without realizing it, we would suddenly find ourselves in a 1984 Orwellian society. Or worse, in a Terry Gilliam’s Brazil nightmare.

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