Official Site of Catherine Cherry of Adelaide, South Australia.
While some people may consider this strange, I have always been a supporter of any plan to microchip people with GPS tracking devices. Why? Because I watch too many movies, and I’m afraid of being kidnapped. True story. I actually WANT the Government or the Police to know where I am at all times. This morning I came across this article about RFID technology being used in supermarkets to make shopping easier, which is something I have been wishing they had for years now.
People against these kinds of initiatives always bring up the same argument – if the Government, or god forbid, MARKETERS, know about your every whereabouts, every item you put in your shopping trolley, every movie you rent from the video store, this will mean the end of privacy as we know it. Just imagine what governments and companies could DO with this data?!
Well, I have imagined, and here are my thoughts…
Track where I go daily, where I drive my car, and you might start to see that me and 10,000 other people take the same rubbish 2-lane road to work everyday in heavy traffic. You might decide to build a solution. You notice I buy capsicum and carrots, so you start sending me coupons for carrots and place those two items next to each other at the supermarket to encourage me to buy more.. HOW CONVENIENT! Your use of this data for marketing purposes is actually HELPING me. If you note that I bought a TV 5 years ago that might need upgrading and therefore start sending me personalised catalogues and discount offers.. GREAT! You’ve done half the legwork for me.
Truth is, I know I am not going to break the law, so I don’t CARE what the Government or the Police or my fellow marketers do with my data. As far as I can see it, access to that data can only make my life better! And let’s be really honest, we’re never going to get to that stage like in the movies where the Government listens to all of your phone conversations and tracks every word you type into your computer. Do you have any idea what it would take to man that kind of system?! You’d need to find several billion spare people from another planet to monitor everyone on OUR planet, or you’d have to build the most sophisticated computer system ever known to man – one that can understand accents, decipher any code language, turn up the volume when you whisper… have you called a bank recently? Well you know where voice recognition technology is at then.
Unless you are afraid the Police will know where you’re selling your drugs or that a GPS tracker will show you’re at a brothel, then this kind of technology shouldn’t worry you.
Strangely though, this got me thinking about my next post….
Hello, welcome to my website! Here potential employers will find almost everything you need to know about my work and skills, and anything that is not answered we can cover in an interview.
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree.