So it’s True — The Internet has eyes on us.
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And just a few years ago, we were blaming traffic cameras, public surveillance systems and mall cops for our lack of privacy. Pretty soon, if Microsoft has its way, we’ll all be watching ourselves anyway.
I’m self-conscious enough without CNN reporting this morning that the empire in Redmond is working on a personal surveillance system called “SenseCam,” which will serve as your own personal voyeur — essentially recording everything that you see and do, every minute, of every hour, all day long. Imagine a huge media card inserted in your neck.
Do you remember when Google started developing Google Maps and people starting calling local police departments to tell them about strange cars from the future with UFO-like pods (which we all later found out, was the actual GPS mapping thing) on their roofs? Well, keep that iPhone in its holster on your way to work this morning…Microsoft Beta testers are actually walking around cities across America today with audio and video equipment strapped to their heads. Human droids.
Of course, today’s technology creates opportunities for moment-by-moment documentation. But does that mean we really should document the mundane? More importantly, what does that mean for the future of affordable healthcare when, say, your electronic diary goes viral in the cloud and your insurance carrier watches you smoking a cigarette? Do our health insurance quotes go up?
Mircosoft claims the benefits of the system outweigh the inherent risks to personal privacy. Archives of your blog, Facebook or Twitter feed — both in text and in pictures – would help you remember exactly what you ate on important occasions, the papers you were proud of and the outfits you wore. For sure, such a tool would be a helpful aid for people suffering the horrors of Alzheimer’s Disease or other memory-related ailments.
Come to think of it (pardon the obvious subject pun), I could use a device like this to help me remember my countless log-ins, my parking spot and on those extra crazy days, my name. Not sure my own personal risk (i.e. – I am very clumsy) or the embarrassment of snickering pedestrians is worth me strapping on a bulbous helmet-cam and wiring harness, a-la Ghost Busters.
So how many Gigs does your brain have, anyway?
