March 26, 2002
What next? ...
In a single week, Taliban-al Qaeda forces were found to be connecting to the Internet from their caves using satellite phones, the CIA was caught placing illegal cookies on the personal computers of people who visit its website, and numerous unsuspecting Americans received tickets in the mail because cameras had photographed them running red lights.
It sure feels like everyone is watching everybody, while few of us know we're being watched.
Take the people who got traffic tickets. Days later, they have to figure out where the intersection was and who was actually driving the car. In the worst case, there may well be some major explaining to do. And while these tickets are expensive and your car insurance can jump, how do you argue with a technology you didn't even know was there?
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Any technology can be set up improperly. And even properly installed, a technology's performance can degrade over time.
Are their laws or regulations to calibrate these cameras? Like the scale at your local butcher shop? And if the cameras are found to be wrong, are all the tickets reversed? Would that mean we're guilty until proven innocent?
I'm reminded of a youth soccer practice I witnessed some years back. The Coach had 30 kids on the field. He bellowed, "When is a foul not a foul?" No one answered, and he barked out the punch line: "A foul is not a foul when the ref doesn't see you!"
I would imagine this particular coach would retire for life if they put cameras on his soccer field. And it doesn't stop there. Look at all the problems with instant replays in professional football: They're in. They're out. They can only be reviewed under certain conditions.
Come to think of it, maybe we should get the NFL folks working on reviews of these red light tickets: There's rain. There's shine. And the artfully-argued, double-stop defense.
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In the end, what remains for me is a nagging sense that technology may be watching me and I don't even know it. Innocently go out to the CIA site, and you return with a cookie that doesn't expire until the year 2010. Coincidentally cross paths with a terrorist or cyberpunk, and who knows what will come your way.
I say, let the government obtain your express permission. Or let them show cause. Like when they're about to tap your phone.
And as for traffic cameras, let's not forget that humans are not robots. Every time we come to an intersection, we stop at a different place in a different way. And we leave differently, as well.
I don't mind using this technology to simply send out warnings. You'd know your driving wasn't up to snuff. And neither, perhaps, is your teenage son's.
But let me be clear: I'm in favor of it only as long as these warnings are not used in any other way.
That being said, I'm not holding my breath - it turns out these traffic cameras are "cash cows." The cities that install them make millions.
Yes, it will be interesting to follow this - this is one of those areas when people can get pretty worked up.
I'm Moira Gunn. This is Five Minutes.
