What ever happened to our privacy?

Am I living in a world where privacy doesn't matter? One where my right to do what I want within legal boundaries is stymied by the incorrigible desire to spy on me and know exactly what I'm doing at all times? One where the world is a big fish bowl and I'm swimming around trying desperately to find a private place?

It certainly looks that way.

A new study from Northeastern University secretly tracked the locations of 100,000 people outside the United States by monitoring their cell phone use and found that most people rarely travel more than a few miles from their home.

I'm not too sure why anyone really cares how far people travel from their homes, but this study does raise one important issue: Northeastern University researches tracked individuals without their knowledge with total disregard for privacy concerns. Obviously heeding the advice of legal counsel, the researchers conducted the study in "an industrialized nation" so they wouldn't be tracking US citizens while in the same country.

According to the Associated Press, "Researchers used cell phone towers to track individuals' locations whenever they made or received phone calls and text messages over six months. In a second set of records, researchers took another 206 cell phones that had tracking devices in them and got records for their locations every two hours over a week's time period."

Unbelievable.

Of course, not everyone thinks what Northeastern did was wrong even though this form of non-consensual tracking is illegal in the United States.

"This is a new step for science," said study co-author Albert-Lazlo Barabasi, director of Northeastern's Center for Complex Network Research. "For the first time we have a chance to really objectively follow certain aspects of human behavior."

Really? Is that what you call it, Mr. Barabasi? In my mind, your practices were nothing short of deplorable. First off, why would it be so difficult to ask people if you can monitor their movements? Secondly, why was it necessary to be so clandestine about it? All you really did was track individuals' every move, right?

Sadly though, the researchers knew that this kind of study would set off alarms all over the place. The AP is reporting that the researchers "started with 6 million phone numbers and chose the 100,000 at random to provide "an extra layer" of anonymity for the research subjects." They also hid the phone numbers in an "ugly" 26-digit format.

That said, they failed to speak to an ethics committee and as one expert pointed out, "There is plenty going on here that sets off ethical alarm bells about privacy and trustworthiness."

And therein lies the rub. Instead of performing a study that has some serious social consequences that may make understanding human nature just a bit easier, the researchers at Northeastern University chose instead to follow a path that sets a dangerous precedent for privacy issues and looks dangerously similar to many more privacy problems we've witnessed over the past few years.

But that's where my issues truly lie. Instead of allowing us to live a life that we want to lead -- one where privacy is paramount -- we're being forced to succumb to privacy regulations that run directly against that right. What ever happened to privacy in the face of liberty? What ever happened to that feeling I once had knowing that when I walk out of my house, drive to the store, pick up a six-pack, and come back, no one is watching me do it?

Some people like to say that if you have nothing to hide, you don't have anything to worry about. And while that may be true if everyone is a good person without any ulterior motives, I don't think anyone is naive enough to believe that for one second.

What Northeastern University did may be a small offense and the researchers tried to control privacy concerns, but what about the next group of researchers that go a bit further? And those after that that go even further? When will it end?

In a free world, I always thought privacy was a right and not a privilege. But as the months turn to years, I'm quickly realizing that I was naive all along.

We have a right to privacy and technology is quickly becoming the bastion for invasion of privacy. And regardless of where you stand on the Northeastern University study, I think we can all agree that we should expect to walk out of our homes each day with a real sense that we're anonymous. Unfortunately, that isn't happening.

But is it really too much to ask?

[cporpheus]

I think the problem is that technology has been developed against privacy for a long time and not enough emphasis has been put toward protecting privacy. The Onion Router and Anonymizer are great technologies among a few other factors contributing to privacy, but against it we have personalized ads, third party cookies, domestic spying, public records on the internet, sensitive information leakage from corporations and many other factors that work against privacy.

[KevLeviathan]

What's so intriguing to me is the fact that we've all seen this coming and yet we continue to allow massive invasions of privacy. Take a look at the CCTV system in London. If that isn't a little (lot) Orwellian, I don't know what is. We seem to be slipping right into a world we've all been ignoring, but seen coming. My phone has embedded GPS, only for 911 use. I really wouldn't take kindly to one of my professors tapping into that without my consent for one of their studies. We've only hit the tip of the iceberg.

[Julio_N]

Oh, you're definitely not going to like this then...

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080606/a_bodyscan06.art.htm

[gerrrg]

That's a bit of a stretch, to say that tracking people anonymously is some great invasion of privacy. If I were a betting person, I'd say that 99% of all people using the internet have their cookies turned on. I'd also venture to guess that 88% of all people with landlines have their phone numbers and addresses listed in the white pages. I also suspect that 77% of people willingly give out their SS number whenever requested. Further, at least 66% of people use their real names online. Even more, 55% of people don't shred their papers. Another 44% of people have had their credit card info stolen. 33% have had their names written down on a waiting list. 22% have left their books on hold at the library, available for anyone to figure out who's reading what. 11% have been spied on actively without their knowledge. And just 1% are anonymous enough that even the unabomber would be embarrassed.

[sldysart]

Sad to see privacy tested for such a lame study.

Not to be picky, but sounds like the study tracked the location of the cell phone rather than the location of the individual. The conclusions are biased unless the individual carries the phone with them 24hrs/day and is the exclusive user who places and receives calls independent of time of day and proximity to home.

[private-internet]

All this statistic tells you is that the current technology supports a public forum. The analogy is this: if you walk into a shopping center with a big sign showing your name and home address will you still claim that your privacy has been violated? You have a cell phone that identifies you and you are on a public network .. where is the privacy?

[dancourses]

Such a difficult topic to cover as it's so new. I suppose the idea of privacy is you're in control of your own details. Like "I clean naked", 'cos you choose to close the curtains. That's you choosing to let someone see or not see your data.

With every device, it's important the user clearly knows when their data is being asked for.

At the pervasive media studio we're hosting an ethics discussion on the Happy Packages project.

http://www.thoughtden.co.uk/blog/2009/03/26/the-ethics-surrounding-happy-packages/

Dan Course :: http://www.thoughtden.co.uk