Privacy Digest

TorontoSun.com - Other News - Eye Spy: "'What have we all sacrificed?' asks Dr. Robert Ing, a Canadian forensic scientist and expert in the field of technical security. 'We can now find anything about anyone. I think of it as murder by technology.'

If you live in a larger Canadian city, Ing estimates a typical one-way trip will cause your image to be recorded an average of 18 times by video surveillance systems, which will save the data for at least three months. You can't buy a cup of coffee without it being recorded.

Almost seven in 10 North American companies, Ing estimates, secretly open some e-mails or phone messages kept by their employees.

The power of trackers is out of this world. Anyone with a computer can use a satellite image-linked program to zero-in on any home.

New cars, as well as vehicles used by a number of occupations -- from some police forces to truck drivers -- come equipped with GPS systems which shadow them, turn after turn. It's for safety, we are assured.

In February, billboards across the U.S. began connecting with passing Mini Coopers. As the tiny cars go by, the boards -- using radio frequency identification (RFID) -- display personalized messages which can name the drivers, with scrolling messages like 'Motor on Vera.' It's all triggered by a key fob sent to some trendy owners, who are only too pleased to be outed.

In the U.K., where cameras cover more of the country than perhaps green grass, transport bosses are pushing for electronic speed detectors, linked to a satellite, to be installed in cars. As they wait for that, watchdogs can keep busy tracking 87-year-old English granny Annie Freeman, who was asked to remove her woolly hat in February, while drinking orange juice and lemonade in a Hampshire pub.

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(Read Original Article - Via TorontoSun.com.)