Completely related to everything important

[Bob Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

This issue is, of course, much greater than a single low-resolution camera 
pointing at a less-than bustling intersection in Moscow.  Our lives and 
personal data are increasingly collected, collated, analyzed, and munged by 
those with the wherewithal to do so.

Frequent contributors to Vision 2020 are already leaving a significant 
public diary in the v2020 archives.  Certainly an enterprising individual 
could find other references online to Bill London, Tim Hillebrand, Ken 
Medlin, Priscilla Salant, Bob Hoffmann, and others.  People with a little 
more money & savvy could go to credit agencies, banks, state & federal Web 
sites, private investigators, online profile aggregators (they know where' 
you've been surfing, and what you've bought online), etc., to paint one 
hell of a picture of us.  The capability of collecting and compiling this 
data is becoming more powerful and less expensive every day.

Might I one day be denied a Chevron credit card (or charged a higher 
interest rate) because I've criticized Chevron in this forum?  Might 
someone defending homosexuals be denied health or life insurance, because 
they are considered at high risk of AIDS?  Could someone have their house 
raided by the police after posting a message supporting drug 
decriminalization?  Could conservatives and gun-owners be identified online 
and rounded up after the vast left-wing conspiracy declares martial law?

Crazier things have happened.  I, for one, am glad that the camera on Main 
Street, and others like it, cannot identify me and allow my movements to be 
correlated with other available data.  But if this ever happens, be aware 
that it is only an incremental advance in the loss of privacy in our culture.

Let the buyer, poster, surfer, driver, hunter, and taxpayer beware.

Bob Hoffmann
229 East C St., Suite B
Moscow, ID  83843  USA
Phone: (208) 883-0642
Fax: 1-800-683-3799