You've heard enough about Big Brother to last a lifetime, so
I've renamed him Super Snooper to spare you the cliche during
this discussion.
Super Snooper, (Big Brother), is using terrorism as an
excuse to spy on everyone, scan their irises, print their
fingers, record their movements and assign threat levels to
each and every one of us. The latest announcement from the
airline industry tells us of the testing of a huge new
database full of facial recognition files, credit card
activity records, airline seating charts, travel histories,
driver licenses, social security numbers, bank records,
employment records and any other "relevant" information
they deem necessary to track terrorists.
The computer all this information is stored on is capable of
noting who you sit near on the plane and if you know anyone
else on the passenger list. It knows if you've been sleeping.
It knows if you're awake. It knows if you've been bad or good.
So be good for goodness sakes! Super Snooper knows all-in the
name of security and safety. I hope everything it knows is,
not only true, but unfailingly correct in it's conclusions
drawn from everything stored in those really deep data piles.
Snooper sniffs the slightest whiff of smelly actions and,
using predictive behavior models, assigns a threat level to
you and me and dear old Auntie Mabel. Well, that's O.K. with
me! It's all in our best interest, right? Security and safety
are more important than protecting privacy, right? Right?!
Lest you think I'm exaggerating, hop over to the Washington
Post story from February 1, at the link below and review it for
yourself.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5185-2002Jan31.html
It's not just terrorism that is putting security in the news
headlines and privacy on the backburner. This week Microsoft
announced the appointment of a new Security Czar who takes
the helm as their top privacy protector on April Fools Day.
Scott Charney is a former Department of Justice Cybercrime cop
who calls the top security job at Microsoft, "Irresistable."
His characterization of his new job is no doubt due to the
horrible security breaches built into Microsoft's products
and he relishes the challenge of plugging all those many
gaping holes.
For my part, I wish him well and hope he succeeds on a grand
scale since security of Microsoft products is critical if
they gain even the smallest adoption of the.Net Passport
system that requires registration of all MSN products users
as it is built in to their latest iteration of Windows, Explorer,
Outlook Express and required of each of the MSN web services
such as hotmail, bCentral small business services and each of
their web portals.
I predict, without hesitation, that individual privacy and
enterprise network security will be the blockbuster issues of
computing and the web in the coming year. Super Snooper is,
like it or not, going to be snooping and sniffing you, your
grandmother, your kids, your neighbor, your friends, your
enemies and all our biometrics to compare all that information
to profiles of known terrorists. I know, I know, you're
very harmless and sweet and innocent and honest and true.
It's those bad guys I'm worried about, so you don't mind if
we profile you, right? We won't attach any of that information
to your.Net Passport, your medical records or your tax files.
Really! We promise! Super Snooper is only after terrorists.
Nobody is interested in all that information we have on you.
Betcha it's totally secure too (on Microsoft IIS server soft-
ware that is completely patched and impervious to hackers or
criminals or even that cybergeek who lives next door.) I know
that because Microsoft has a new Security Czar who starts his
irresistable job on April Fools Day!
About the Author
Mike Valentine does Search Engine Placement for the Small
Business http://website101.com/SearchEnginePositioning
WebSite101 "Reading List" Weekly Netrepreneur Tip Sheet
Weekly Ezine emphasizing small business on the Internet
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