It was Phil Zimmermann, creator of PGP encryption software, who did a one-up on Andy Warhol by pronouncing that in the future, we will all have 15 minutes of privacy.
Few of us have a lot of enthusiasm for the idea of being surrounded by dozens or hundreds of little cameras. I know I don't. But there may be an upside to the rapid approach of the day when every waking moment of our lives will be photographed and recorded.
Consider this:
A 15-year-old boy foiled an apparent abduction attempt when he pulled out his cell phone camera and snapped photos of a man trying to lure him into a car, police said.
The teen also photographed the vehicle's license plate and gave the evidence to police, who arrested a suspect the next day.
Somehow, the tiny cameras seem a lot less threatening when it's us, the good guys, snapping the pictures. And while I want to have some semblance of privacy in my own doings, it bothers me not a whit if predatory creeps like this lose all the advantages that "privacy" has brought them.
Try reading David Brin's 'Transparent Society', Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738201448/qid=1060017227/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-8785276-1515334?v=glance&s=books
While I still don't like the idea much, he does present some thoughts on how it could be managed to prevent some of the worst aspects.
Posted by: Andrew at August 4, 2003 11:16 AM