LOSING YOUR PRIVACY ONE DEVICE AT A TIME: IS THAT FREEBIE WORTH YOUR FREEDOM? -- Verizon applies for a "big brother" patent which should scare the bejesus out of privacy advocates For a few dollars per month to statistically chosen viewers, television ratings agencies such as Nielsen Media Research recorded television usage; who was watching, when you were watching and what you watched. But now there might be something more insidious on the horizon – or should I say Verizon … It appears that Verizon has filed a patent application for “Methods and Systems for Presenting an Advertisement Associated with an Ambient Action of a User.” A sophisticated way of saying that Verizon has developed a method to watch and listen to what you might be doing in proximity to a set-top or built-in sensor array, and then using that information to send you targeted advertising. Behind this innocuous sounding language of the patent, lies a capability that only existed in books on a fictional “big brother” that constantly surveils the home environment on behalf of a totalitarian government. The use of this technology is beyond scary since it can be built into almost any electronic device and monitor political speech and other behaviors that the government may be interested in. One could almost imagine the technology being used to detect a fight between individuals for the purposes of dispatching law enforcement personnel and then using the information to prosecute you for criminal activity.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:05:47 +0000
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