Category Archives: Privacy
Reflections: Day Zero of ‘Life in a Digital Fishbowl’
In talking about the infrastructure that is going to be deployed, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia noted several things: He will fight against long-term deployment of Olympic CCTV systems; Only if it is justified and legal can the lower mainland area be surveyed with Olympic CCTV infrastructure, post-games; The infrastructure put in place for the games will be sold off to the highest bidder; It is unclear if the current intention is to secure the perimeter of game areas, or if it is to secure areas of the city. … The Olympics operate as a time for members of society to come together an announce their causes to the world; given the broad understandings of ‘threats’ by law enforcement, this means that a massive number of Canadians may be situated in databases for unknown future purposes and labeled as dangerous somehow. … This, I worry, can become the legacy of the games that is unseen, and thus challenging to investigate as academics; if we don’t even know what data is being recorded, or who is storing it, then even FOIs are limited in their capacity to render transparent the legacy of data shadows the accompany social action at the Olympics. Continue reading
Update: Mobiles and Your Identity
Last year I authored a post entitled “Mobiles and Your Identity“, where I attempted to unpack some of the privacy and surveillance concerns that are associated with smart phones, such as RIM’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone. In particular, I focused … Continue reading
Thoughts: Why do I focus on digital privacy issues?
Earlier this year, I was asked a very good question by my MA advisor. Omid asked, “Why do you study what you study?” At the time, I gave an incredibly disappointing answer – it was vague, disjointed, and really didn’t … Continue reading
Comment: To RFID or not to RFID, that is the question
The Vancouver Sun has an article that was written by Phil Chicola, U.S. Consul General in Vancouver. Entitled “To RFID or not to RFID, that is the question,” it is yet another part of the ongoing propaganda war surrounding the … Continue reading
