Wednesday, April 09, 2008

THE following is a text we've been working on over these last weeks. I guess some of you might be interested in reading the article again or getting it printed.

The glass consumer
A new book, ‘The glass consumer’, claims that Britain has
become a ‘surveillance society’. It says we have very little
control over how companies use our personal data. We
provide this data when we use credit cards or mobile phones,
often without realising it. Loyalty card schemes allow
companies to track individual spending habits; technology
means companies can know which websites their employees
visit. Never has data on individuals been so easy to collect.
Of course, there are benefits from all this information
gathering. Companies can customise goods and services, and
improve competitiveness. Prices can be reduced, as in the
example of a UK insurance company which is piloting a new
system of ‘pay as you drive’ insurance. A satellite box fitted
in the car is used to calculate the monthly premiums. Now,
however, the government has announced its intention to
consider such satellite tracking as a way of delivering a
national road pricing scheme. Any such ‘Pay as you drive’
schemes inevitably involve huge privacy issues.
In the retail area, there is a growing use of a tagging device to
transmit information on staff. Computer systems worn on the
arm can be used to monitor how long employees spend on
task or the length of breaks! Management claim efficiency is
improved, as workers can be told exactly where to pick up
goods from the warehouse. Many workers have refused to
wear these tags, claiming that their work is being monitored
and they are being reduced to the role of machines.
Research reveals that over 80% of people think they have less
privacy than ten years ago; nearly 80% think they have lost
control over how their personal information is used. These
fears seem confirmed by reports that bank account details of
1,000 UK customers, held by Indian call centres, were sold to
an undercover reporter and a breach of data security in the
US may have exposed 40 million credit-card accounts to a
hacker. While there are many benefits for companies to
collect information, it can easily be misused. Tagging?
Tracking? Are we indeed living in a surveillance society?

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