Database Nation: Privacy Under Attack

You wake to the sound of a telephone ringing - but how could that happen?

Several months ago, you reprogrammed your home telephone systems so the phone would never ring before the civilized hour of 8:00am. But its barely 5.45am. Who would be calling at that time? More importantly, who was able to bypass your phone's programming?

You pick up the telephone receiver, then slam it down a moment later. It's one of those marketing machines playing a prerecorded message. Computerised telemarketing calls have been illegal in the United States for more than a decade now, but ever since international long-distance prices dropped below 10 cents a minute, calls have been pouring in to North America from all over the world. And they're nearly all marketing calls - hence the popularity of programmable phones today. What's troubling you is how the call got past the filters you set up. Later on, you'll discover how: the company that sold you the phone created an undocumented "back door" last week, the phone codes were sold in an online auction. Because you weren't paying attention, you lost the chance to buy back your privacy.

Oops.

Now that you're awake, you decide to go through yesterday's mail. There's a letter from a neighborhood hospital you visited last month. "We're pleased that our emergency room could serve you in your time of need," the letter begins. "As you know, our fees (based on our agreement with your HMO) do not cover the cost of treatment. To make up the difference, a number of hospitals have started selling patient records to medical researchers and consumer marketing firms. Rather than mimic this distasteful behaviour, we have decided to ask you to help us make up the difference. We are recommending a tax-deductible contribution of $275 to help defray the cost of your visit."

The veiled threat isn't empty, but you decide you don't really care who finds out about your sprained wrist. You fold the letter in half and drop it into your shredder. Also into the shredder goes a trio of low-interest credit card offers.

Why a shredder? A few years ago you would have never thought of shredding your junk mail - until a friend in your apartment complex had his identity "stolen" by the building's superintendent. As best as anybody can figure it out, the super picked one of those pre-approved credit-card applications out of the trash, called the toll-free number, and picked up the card when it was delivered. He's in Mexico now, with a lot of expensive clothing and electronics, all at your friend's expense.

On that cheery note, you grab your bag and head out of the door, which automatically locks behind you.

Arriving late at work, you receive a polite email message from the company's timecard system it knows when you showed up, and it gives you several options for making up the missed time. You can forgo lunch today, work an extra 45 minutes this evening, or take the 45 minutes out of your ever-dwindling vacation time. The choice is yours.

Next month, the company is installing devices in the bathrooms to make sure people wash their hands. Although the devices were originally intended for the healthcare and food industries, a recent study found that routine washing can also cut down on disease transmission among white-collar workers. So the machines are coming, and with them you'll lose just a little bit more of your privacy and your dignity.

** All this week, Silicon.com is publishing exclusive extracts from Simson Garfinkel's latest book Database Nation, which poses a disturbing question: how can we protect our basic rights to privacy, identity and autonomy when technology is making invasion and control easier than ever before? The serialisation continues tomorrow, and on Friday, we've got 25 copies of the book up for grabs. See Silicon.com all week for further details.

Database Nation is available from all good bookshops, for more information see http://www.oreilly.com