My paper on ‘Identity and Privacy -in the Information Age’ has been accepted at this conference. So I will be speaking there on the 1st or 2nd August. If any of my blog readers are there please drop a note!
Tag: events & observations
Economics of information security – Bruce Schneier talks…
The information security guru Bruce Schneier gave a joint BCS and London School of Economics public lecture as part of this year’s 50th anniversary celebrations. I attended the lecture at the LSE, however not the one held the day after at the BCS. Here is the recording where he outlined ten trends that were changing the landscape of information security, and how viewing these trends in economic terms could help unravel some of the paradoxes of practical information security.
British schools use biometric software to record the data of children
When I was at the LSE conference in London I listened to Terri Dowty that discussed the growing trend on surviellance of children in the UK, starting with kindergarten. I was thus concerned to come across the following article this morning that up to 3,500 schools use biometric software to record the data of approximately three quarters of a million children. Children’s data stored, often include photographs and fingerprints, is stored on unregulated data collection systems and potentially insecure school computer networks and could therefore potentially be misused; notes that collecting the data from children under 12 without parental consent directly contravenes the Data Protection Act.
For more information on what is going on that impacts your children in the UK take a look on Action Rights for Children website (ARCH). For a more global picture take a look at LeaveThemKidsAlone.com
Descriptive analysis and inventory of profiling practices
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned a great lecture by Mireille Hildebrandt at LSE on profiling. I have since found this great paper that describes the profiling practices. Moreover her lecture linked this into privacy the DPA deficiencies in this area, and also offline profiling that includes RFID, sensor technologies, etc., thus turning the offline world online!
Imagine a biometric behavioural profile such as a ‘smart car’ that knows when you get tired. A ‘smart car’ that either refuses to start or pulls over to the side of the road when it detects this. What about a ‘smart home’ that detects your needs based upon your behavioural patterns? I think she called this ‘environment profiling’ that anticipates your needs maybe even before you do yourself. In order to do this the environment must know enough about you in order to be able to make decisions for you, this means the collection of personal data -either knowingly or unknowingly- using online or offline technologies…..
So what does that mean to us? Simple, choice is taken away, our environment anticipates for us what we need or should need. I wonder if this means that in the future our children could develop with a reduced capability to make decisions, if simple daily choices disappear? Maybe this is nothing, and could be compared with the use of the pocket calculator and the reduced capability of my generation and beyond for mental arithmetic? However I do wonder if children in 20 years time will understand what it means to have privacy?
Have you got a store card?
I don’t, never had. I remember the first cards coming out in the UK about 15 years ago, Sainsburys, Tescos. The buzz words were ‘data warehousing’. I didn’t want my buying habits stored in some database somewhere for someone to data-mine my life!
I am not completely honest in saying I’ve had no store cards, I have, well sort of. Every couple of years I have a moment of weakness…. would be so nice to be invited to the first day of sales in my favourite boutique. I filled an application out for a store card a couple of months ago, gave them my personal details, they sent me the card, and then -the moment of weakness passed- I did the same as what I’ve done every other time, cut it up and threw it in the bin.
Why do I do this? After all we have the Data Protection Act here in the EU. Our information is safe…… or at least that is what we think. I was so glad that I held my stance on the use of store cards when I listened to Meireille Hildebrandt -at LSE- earlier this week , a lawyer who has linked her expertise with a subject domain called ‘profiling’.
Profiling is ‘data-mining’ and finding pattern recognition. The challenge is -given the amount of information collected on each of us- is distinguishing the noise from the information. Profiling is an vast area and I will write something more about this when I get back from a week’s skiing in the North of Sweden. So watch this space……
On the cusp of a new surveillence age
So how is this?
We are living in a unique time today that will not last long, we are on the edge of a cusp for a new age of surveillance. So what do I mean by this? Bruce Schneier gave a compelling picture of the future -at LSE earlier this week- he started with today, one where we know that there are cameras everywhere and that we can see them, are aware of them! However…..
– In 5 years time they will be so small that they will still be everywhere but out of our sight.
– We will probably be unaware of ID checks being made on us.
– We will get location-specific advertising, e.g. walk past Starbucks and see a personalized advert.
What is more, we will start to accept this. Maybe even agree to keeping a ‘life recorder‘ in our lapel for a small reward at the beginning. It could be later that it becomes the norm, after all it provides us with an alibi if we happen to be implicated in a crime in some way. It could be that by not wearing a ‘life recorder‘ is an indication of our guilt because we ‘have something to hide‘!
For myself, and I expect anyone reading this would find this vision for the future somewhat disturbing, but unfortunately any research that I have done concerning consumer habits and acceptance for the sharing of personal information for some small reward -e.g. 5cents discount on a chocolate bar- it is not such science fiction given the advances in surveillance technology today and expectations for the future.
Identity and Privacy conference at LSE
I had a thought-provoking couple of days in London at the LSE (London School of Economics) on Monday and Tuesday this week when they ran a conference on Identity and Privacy. Watch this space, I will be writing about what I heard from key speakers and what my thoughts are on this over the next few days.
Bruce Schneier in London
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and author. Described by The Economist as a “security guru,” Schneier is best known as a refreshingly candid and lucid security critic and commentator.
This lecture is part of the British Computer Society’s 50th anniversary and it is open to all. No ticket is required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis so please arrive early to avoid disappointment.