One of the benefits of the Greater New York area is the sheer amount of people that enable all manner of media diversity. The radio band for instance is chock-a-block with stations of all kinds. I was stuck in a traffic jam on Route 287 and looked to the radio to waste away the time. I caught an interview by Thomas Kenneally, where he spoke about his book on the Irish. He didn't let the interviewer get a word in edge ways. I then found a radio program on privacy and data collection . One of the folks being interviewed - Robert O'Harrow - called it a "watched society" and asked the question, who is watching the watchers?

Data Collection

Most of us are aware that grocery discount cards are for data collection and profiling. I often urge my wife to swap her card with someone else in line in order to screw up the profiling. Most of us also know that when we purchase something from Best Buy or any other big box store, our purchasing habits will be profiled.

For a time in the US, Radio Shack maintained a militant data collection scheme whereby young, underpaid teenage check out assistants would refuse to sell you anything unless you handed over your information. I recall getting into a yelling match with one - over purchasing four AAA batteries - when I refused to give my information. The most important rule in business is don't make it hard for a customer to give you their money. Radio Shack failed that rule badly. Since then I have not shopped through them - and made sure they knew why.

It was not so long ago that Radio Shack changed their policy. Enough people must have complained and denied them business as a result. Other companies have taken to asking for your zip/postal code if you purchase with cash. Normally a firm, "I am not prepared to give that information out." is enough to ward off any persistence by the person behind the checkout. But even so, it is intrusive.

I don't keep grocery cards, store credit cards etc - but there are areas where I cannot opt out. I have been fingerprinted by the FBI as part of the green-card process. I have a voluminuous credit report on me that is shared amongst credit agencies and data collection firms. I have a passport, a drivers license, a medicare card, a social security number - the list goes on.

Privacy

Complete privacy is impossible to maintain. Only today I found out about google's new phone number search. If you put in your phone number it will show up with who you are, and directions to your house. My phone number was in there. I removed it, but if someone hadn't of mentioned it to me in passing, I would not have known to opt out.

One of my friends freaked over it, he has a five year old daughter and immediately thought of someone coming up to her asking, "what is your phone number little girl?". He said his daughter knows their phone number and is trusting enough to give it out if asked. Not only is our privacy shrinking, but with technologies such as computers, databases and data networks - the ease with which information can be found is also decreasing.

In The Hands Of Companies

There are a couple of companies, relatively unknown, that are the biggest for data collection, aggregation and dissemination. They are Acxiom and ChoicePoint. Both got their start in the credit industry selling debtor information and histories. They have been consuming other data collation companies at the same time as growing their own business. With the focus since 2001 on domestic surveillance, these companies have also branched into military and homeland security work as well.

Advocates for private collation of data point to the improvements and efficiencies for customers. For instance ;

Whatever its flaws, the credit-reporting system is a marvel of efficiency; just a few decades ago, if you wanted a loan, you'd have to visit a bank's loan officer in person and wait weeks while he or she checked your references before finally reaching a decision. Thanks to massive databases that sweep in credit histories, addresses, phone numbers, and public records such as bankruptcies and lawsuits by creditors, credit can be obtained in seconds today and at far cheaper prices.

Another argues that the lending rate is a full two points lower due to data collation as potential debtor risk can be predicted with greater precision. On the downside I recently heard on the radio that it is suspected that on third of all credit reports in the US contain errors.

The argument for data aggregation constantly follows the "for the consumer" meme. This can be tempered by the reality that I still have to walk from one side of the store to the other if I want to buy bread and milk. Companies will only pass efficiencies from data collation on to the consumer if it is in their interest to do so.

In The Hands Of Government

Public opinion has crushed two prominent government data collection programs in the United States. The Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project and the FBI's Carnivore. Both were killed - but in true government fashion - their names and projects vanished but they most likely exist in other parts of government now, with a different name and without being known to the public. John Poindexter of Reagan Contra scandal headed TIA;

"One of the remarkable things about ideas is that once you surface an idea, and it is a good idea, in the long term there is very little that can be done to stop it," Poindexter says of his proposals for aggressive data mining. "So I am convinced that research and development will continue, one way or another." Poindexter even hints that money for similar efforts remains buried deep within the Pentagon's budget.

Government has been constantly shrinking the public space of government, into evermore secrecy. The USA PATRIOT Act which was enacted by the US Congress in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks continues this process whereby the FBI can act outside of public accountability. For instance the gag orders on the FBI's collection of records under the USA PATRIOT Act.

For all democratic government's failure, and inevitable corruption by wealth and power - they remain accountable in a limited form to the people through elections. The other weakness of politicians is that their power is only as strong as popular public perception through the mass media and public opinion. Populist leaders will rarely pursue something that is truly unpopular - not publicly anyway. It threatens their continued power too much.

A very real issue is that the government will outsource the data mining and surveillance to private companies. Presumably we are protected from over-bearing surveillance from private companies, especially those that act improperly, through government bearing our interests in mind and protecting us through legislation.

If the government and private data industries are in collusion through government money. The government will not act as the agent of the people and undoubtedly pursue this until corruption or tyranny are endemic. The article linked above states;

Unfortunately, the very features that make credit reports and other databases useful to businesses make them even more attractive to law enforcement. A more interesting question to answer could be: How can government access to these data stores be better controlled without curbing beneficial uses as well?

Who Watches The Watchers

Corporations are far more powerful than any individual, and have the ear of government through their greater access to the political process. We have to hope that government will act in our interest to ensure our privacy isn't compromised. We also have to make sure we pressure the government to this end. The unresponsive tail of government must be tweaked until government has a fire in their belly.

Government in a nation-state has the monopoly on coercion and through its ability to tax has an immense amount of wealth as well. A pattern in government has been the shrinking of the public space, so that more and more government is conducted and performed in private. This will naturally lead to impunity and the complete alienation of the people.

The only means to ensure that private organizations don't over-step their bounds, and that government does not conduct surveillance programs outside of the public sphere is by injecting the people into the political process through a ratification model of government or some other form of direct democracy.

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