Spiegel writes about the public’s increasing use of high-tech gadgets, many of which are “tethered appliances,” and how that affects individual privacy.

Many devices today are in constant communication with their manufacturer. And it’s not just consumers who are losing their rights — the technology gives authoritarian states whole new ways of keeping tabs on individuals. [...]

Whether it’s gaming consoles, Blackberrys, iPhones, Windows PCs, Apple computers, Blu Ray players or the next big trend in personal computing, the netbook, digital devices that are permanently or frequently in contact with their manufacturer are here to stay. All of these devices can be remotely modified at any time through software updates. So you could say that an iPhone doesn’t really belong to you — at least not in quite the same way that your refrigerator or bicycle does. The manufacturers have us all on a leash. [...]

[And,] indirectly the power of the state is also growing. They are able to put enough pressure on any manufacturer to force it to help out with monitoring or control of private individuals. Anyone who believes that large companies would not bend to the will of autocrats and dictators just needs to take a look at the situation in China, where search engines and Internet providers do exactly what the Chinese government tells them to do.

Spiegel cited to Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain’s book, “The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It.” It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it.

Spiegel also discusses the recent scandal where Amazon decided to digitally enter Kindle users’ devices (without the owners’ knowledge or consent) and delete books the customers had paid for legitimately. Amazon did this, it says, because the books (by George Orwell) had been added to the Kindle store by a company without rights to the works. Advances in technology made this action possible. If a company can’t come into your home to steal back a book you lawfully purchased, then a company should not be able to come into your electronic devices to steal data you obtained through lawful means.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 4th, 2009 and is filed under Anonymity, Civil liberties, Fourth Amendment, Identification, International, Security, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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