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November 04, 2003

They're watching...

In the continuing slide into human-machine interfacing, there's a product from Alertness Solutions that you can wear like a watch and it monitors physical activity.

It's making the press lately for ways to improve the (not so) healthy lifestyles of business travelers and includes some alertness tests that demonstrate how much we can slow down in our alertness when we have the road warrior lifestyles.

There are similar devices, such as SportBrain that's a pedometer with an online interface so you can monitor your daily walking and running. (I use this and like it.)

I keep thinking this is just the tip of the iceberg. Just think of all the personal data that can be monitored - for good rather than evil! - to either maintain or improve your health. There's a device called Digital Angel that's bringing out an array of devices to remotely monitor everything from ambient temperature to biometrics for the like of heart patients and those in pharmacological studies. With GPS services added into this mix, they're even offering to monitor for patients who fall and can't get up.

Remember that ad with the little old lady who couldn't get up? Imagine Digital Angel's commercial will be a little old lady laying on the floor listen to the device telling her, "Mrs. Jones, you've fallen down and you can't get up. Don't try. We know you're in your kitchen, we're coming to get you. We'll be there in 7 minutes."

Just think, if you have elderly parents, you won't have to call them as often to check up on them...

The ethical consideration are both deep and wide. I am not completely worried about the loss of privacy regarding these types of devices. First of all, a lot of privacy is illusionary, but more important is our need to develop new tools and understandings of how privacy can work in an age where information needs to flow to those we want to have it.

When you are threatened by a smarter mouse, you have to build a smarter mouse trap. Those who believe that privacy will be forever lost have very little faith in human ability to build new things as well as a cynical belief in how things work out.

Posted by dmzach

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