Slashdot Mirror


"Reality Mining" Resets the Privacy Debate

An anonymous reader sends us to the NYTimes for a sobering look at the frontiers of "collective intelligence," also called in the article "reality mining." These techniques go several steps beyond the pedestrian version of "data mining" with which the Pentagon and/or DHS have been flirting. The article profiles projects at MIT, UCLA, Google, and elsewhere in networked sensor research and other forms of collective intelligence. "About 100 students at MIT agreed to completely give away their privacy to get a free smartphone. 'Now, when he dials another student, researchers know. When he sends an e-mail or text message, they also know. When he listens to music, they know the song. Every moment he has his Windows Mobile smartphone with him, they know where he is, and who's nearby.' ... Indeed, some collective-intelligence researchers argue that strong concerns about privacy rights are a relatively recent phenomenon in human history. ... 'For most of human history, people have lived in small tribes where everything they did was known by everyone they knew,' Dr. Malone said. 'In some sense we're becoming a global village. Privacy may turn out to have become an anomaly.'"

7 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. In a heartbeat by flerchin · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'd do it for a sony experia x1, or htc touch pro. If it became too obtrusive, I could always buy my own phone and walk away from it. I doubt I would. Of course, if this were forced on me, I would effect armed resistance. But for a free sweet phone.....

    --
    --why?
  2. Thread abuse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the world is becoming a 'global village', who is the village idiot?

    1. Re:Thread abuse by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 3, Funny

      Anonymous Cowards, obviously.

  3. Re:fr!st ps0t by Antlerbot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh, sweet irony.

  4. Re:privacy not an anomaly by pimpimpim · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, the summary had several typos, it should have been:

    "For most of MIT's history, MIT students have lived in small tribes where everything they did was known by everyone they knew"

    --
    molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
  5. Re:Intelligence does not equal Common Sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    So you watched the 2008 election too?

  6. Re:Don't use carp like BMI to say someone is over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You're right, I won't use carp like that. I prefer trout.