Information

Fingerprinting to Use Library Computers

This entry was posted in Culture Economics Information Law Enforcement Patriot Act Privacy on by

I don’t think I’d like to see this become a trend:

The Naperville (Ill.) Public Library board approved a $40,646 contract May 18 with a local technology firm to install fingerprint scanners on its public internet computers. The scanners, to be installed this summer, will replace the current system of requiring patrons to enter their library-card and PIN numbers to prove their identity, the Chicago Tribune reported May 20.

There are a couple of things that concern me about this. First, our fingerprints should not start showing up in multiple databases. Yea, these folks say the special encoding can not be reverse engineered but I don’t see anything that says the the fingerprint itself is not retained. And, even if it is not retained initially what are the safeguards to assure it never is retained and just how will you know?
Secondly, the linked articles talks about a law enforcement request for login records. Surely this information along with the logs detailing online activity are deleted in real or near real time. If not, then patrons should be insisting on this. The most that should be retained is the information that an unidentified patron used a computer for x minutes on such and such a day. Anything more than that should be considered a breach of privacy.
Maybe lots of folks will respond with this approach:

West said the library is requiring a fingerprint to set up computer access, although patrons who object could ask a staff member to log them on to a computer.
“I’m sure we won’t turn anybody away who refuses to use the technology, but in all honesty, it will be more cumbersome,” West said.

And the increased manpower cost will lead Naperville to return to easily used cards. If it leads them to become increasingly restrictive then, I suspect, it will simply hasten their marginalization in an increasingly digital world where the bulk of the written material created will be available to us in our living room, the local park, coffeeshop or where ever else we choose.
Via beSpacific.

Chicago Crime

This entry was posted in Capitalism Economics Health Care Information Law Enforcement Marketing on by

This is good stuff!
I expect that we will see this propagate across the country and I expect that this kind of stuff is the smallest tip of the iceberg. For this specific application I’d like to see a map of arrests as well. Something that shows where the arrests are happening and how effective law enforcement is in resolving real crimes…like, murder, burglary, theft, battery, etc.
There will be many, many more creative add-ons to the Google interface. I’d be shocked if Google didn’t have more really hot stuff in the pipeline.
With just a little thought it is possible to identify applications that could change some significant markets and greatly enhance peoples lives.
Via beSpacific.

What About That City?

This entry was posted in Culture Information on by

Well, just about any piece of data you might want to know:

We’ve collected and analyzed data from numerous sources to create as complete and interesting profiles of all U.S. cities as we could. We have thousands of pictures, maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment…), geographical data, crime data, housing, businesses, political contributions, weather, hospitals, schools, libraries, houses, airports, radio and TV stations, zip codes, area codes, user-submitted facts, similar cities list, comparisons to averages… If you ever need to research any city for any reason, from considering a move there to just checking where somebody you know is staying, this is the site for you.

Do you like Top 100 lists? They’ve got plenty.
Via The Presurfer.

Thumbprint Privacy

This entry was posted in Business US Capitalism Economics Information Privacy on by

I wonder how many customers have read the privacy policy of the tanning salons that require a thumb print before selling you a tan? Probably not many. Or perhaps folks that frequent tanning salons don’t care about privacy, potential identity theft, or their thumbprint potentially ending up in a Choicepoint, hacker, or doj database.
The evidence, sadly, points to the latter: if folks cared then these businesses would either be closed or would have already revised their POS systems.
Via Politech.

Personal Data Protection

This entry was posted in Culture Federal Government Information on by

Kevin Drum echoes Charle’s Kuffner’s concern that congress will, if it enacts a security breach protection law similar to California’s, preemptively dilute California’s law in the process. Kuffner says:

For the rest of us, what we want here is the same protections that Californians currently enjoy. Anything less is unacceptable.

well, yes, but are after the fact disclosure laws really protections? Certainly miscreants like Choicepoint should be obligated to disclose to one and all when someone’s personal information has been breached. It seems to me, though, that protection should happen before the event not after and that, as I have noted before, the minimum acceptable starting point must be along the lines of:

No institution, government or private, can be allowed to collect or distribute, for free or for fee, to any private or government entity any information about an individual without that individual’s specific consent on a per incident basis and if the distribution is for a fee then that individual must be compensated at a rate agreeable to the individual.

Violations should be treated as felonies and violators must reimburse violated individual(s) for all related losses including legal costs related to the disclosure.