"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.'"

In a heartbeat

[flerchin]

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.....

Thread abuse

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:fr!st ps0t

[Antlerbot]

Oh, sweet irony.

Re:privacy not an anomaly

[pimpimpim]

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"

Re:Thread abuse

[Tubal-Cain]

Anonymous Cowards, obviously.

Re:Intelligence does not equal Common Sense

[Anonymous Coward]

So you watched the 2008 election too?

Re:Don't use carp like BMI to say someone is over

[Anonymous Coward]

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