Surveillance
Adding history to biometrics
Fri, 08/08/2008 - 08:31 — Keith BreckenridgeThere's a report in this morning's New York Times that has some interesting implications for the already enormous biometrics industry. Scientists in the US have developed techniques for extracting biochemical traces from the surface of your fingers, which will allow them to determine what substances (and places) your fingers have touched. Get ready to have your fingers tested when you enter the US; I can see a market for chemical finger washing already.
URL -> Fingerprint Test Tells What a Person Has Touched
The Dream of Municipal Wireless becomes a nightmare
Thu, 07/17/2008 - 17:09 — Keith BreckenridgeNational Public Radio has a very interesting, and depressing, report on the ways in which urban wireless systems have changed over the last few years. Two or three years ago cities in the US (Philadelphia and San Francisco are two I can remember) were planning to deliver free wireless broadband to their citizens. These projects (at least the Philadelphia one) have now collapsed and they are being replaced, according to this report, by massive integrated wireless surveillance systems geared to the requirements of the police. Is this progress?
