take my privacy, please! - new york times

Take My Privacy, Please! - New York TimesTHE Patriot Act - brilliant! Its critics would have preferred a less stirring title, perhaps something along the lines of the Enhanced Snooping,Library and Hospital Database Seizure Act. But then who, even right after 9/11, would have voted for that?

Precisely. He who names it and frames it, claims it. The Patriot Act, however, may turn out to be among the lesser threats to our individualand collective privacy.

There is no end to what we will endure, support, pay for and promote if only it makes our lives easier, promises to save us money, appears toenhance our security and comes to us in a warm, cuddly and altogether nonthreatening package. To wit: OnStar, the subscription vehicletracking and assistance system. Part of its mission statement, as found on the OnStar Web site, is the creation of "safety, security and peace ofmind for drivers and passengers with thoughtful wireless services that are always there, always ready." You've surely seen or heard theircommercials, one of which goes like this:

Announcer The following is an OnStar conversation. (Ring)OnStar OnStar emergency, this is Dwight.Driver (crying) Yes, yes??!OnStar Are there any injuries, ma'am?Driver My leg hurts, my arm hurts.OnStar O.K. I do understand. I will be contacting emergency services.Announcer If your airbags deploy, OnStar receives a signal and calls to check on you.(Ring)Emergency Services Police.OnStar This is Dwight with OnStar. I'd like to report a vehicle crash with airbag deployment on West 106th Street.Emergency Services We'll send police and E.M.S. out there.Driver (crying) I'm so scared!OnStar O.K., I'm here with you, ma'am; you needn't be scared.

Well, maybe just a little scared. Tell us again how Dwight knows just where the accident took place. Oh, right! It's those thoughtful wirelessservices that are always there. Always, as in any time a driver gets into an OnStar-equipped vehicle. OnStar insists that it would disclose thewhereabouts of a subscriber's vehicle only after being presented with a criminal court order or after the vehicle has been reported stolen.That's certainly a relief. I wouldn't want to think that anyone but Dwight knows where I am whenever I'm traveling in my car.

Of course, E-ZPass and most other toll-collecting systems already know whenever a customer passes through one of their scanners. That's

Take My Privacy, Please! - New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/opinion/13koppel.html?_r=1

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because of radio frequency identification technology. In return for the convenience of zipping through toll booths, you need to have in yourcar a wireless device. This tag contains information about your account, permitting E-ZPass to deduct the necessary toll - and to note whenyour car whisked through that particular toll booth. They wouldn't share that information with anyone, either; that is, unless they had to.

The State Department plans to use radio frequency identification technology in all new American passports by the end of 2005. Thedepartment wants to be sure that we all move through immigration quickly and efficiently when we return from overseas. Privacy advocateshave suggested that hackers could tap into the information stored on these tags, or that terrorists might be able to use them to pinpointAmerican tourists in a crowd. The State Department assures us that both concerns are unfounded, and that it will allow privacy advocates toreview test results this summer.

Radio frequency identification technology has been used for about 15 years now to reunite lost pets with their owners. Applied DigitalSolutions, for example, manufactures the VeriChip, a tiny, implantable device that holds a small amount of data. Animal shelters can scan thechip for the name and phone number of the lost pet's owner. The product is now referred to as the HomeAgain Microchip IdentificationSystem.

Useful? Sure. Indeed, it's not much of a leap to suggest that one day, the VeriChip might be routinely implanted under the skin of, let's say, anAlzheimer's patient. The Food and Drug Administration approved the VeriChip for use in people last October. An Applied Digital Solutionsspokesman estimates that about 1,000 people have already had a VeriChip implanted, usually in the right triceps. At the moment, it doesn'tcarry much information, just an identification number that health care providers can use to tap into a patient's medical history. A Barcelonanightclub also uses it to admit customers with a qualifying code to enter a V.I.P. room where drinks are automatically put on their bill.Possible variations on the theme are staggering.

And how about all the information collected by popular devices like TiVo, the digital video recorder that enables you to watch and store anentire season's worth of favorite programs at your own convenience? It also lets you electronically mark the programs you favor, allowingTiVo to suggest similar programs for your viewing pleasure. In February, TiVo announced the most frequently played and replayedcommercial moment during the Super Bowl (it involves a wardrobe malfunction, but believe me, you don't want to know), drawing onaggregated data from a sample of 10,000 anonymous TiVo households. No one is suggesting that TiVo tracks what each subscriber recordsand replays. But could they, if they needed to? That's unclear, although TiVo does have a privacy policy. "Your privacy," it says in part, "isvery important to us. Due to factors beyond our control, however, we cannot fully ensure that your user information will not be disclosed tothird parties."

Ted Koppel is the anchor and managing editor of the ABC program "Nightline."


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take my privacy, please! - new york times

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