Data and Goliath (37 page)

“You have zero privacy anyway.”:
Polly Sprenger (26 Jan 1999), “Sun on privacy: ‘Get over it,’”
Wired
, http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/news/1999/01/17538.

US military defines surveillance:
US Joint Chiefs of Staff (11 Aug 2011), “Joint Operations,” Joint Publication 3-0,
http://fas.org/irp/doddir/dod/jp3_0.pdf.

if you let us have all your data:
Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen (2013),
The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business
, Knopf, http://www.newdigitalage.com.

That’s the NSA’s justification:
No one ever explicitly refers to the bargain, but everyone argues that surveillance
is necessary to keep us safe. Patricia Zengerle and Tabassum Zakaria (18 Jun 2013),
“NSA head, lawmakers defend surveillance programs,” Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/18/us-usa-security-idUSBRE95H15O20130618.
Al Jazeera (29 Oct 2013), “NSA chief defends spy program in face of protest from allies,”
Al Jazeera, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/29/nsa-chief-defendsspyprogramamidusriftwitheurope.html.

We need to think:
Technology critic Evgeny Morozov makes this point. Evgeny Morozov (22 Oct 2013),
“The real privacy problem,”
MIT Technology Review
, http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520426/the-real-privacy-problem.

1: DATA AS A BY-PRODUCT OF COMPUTING

uniquely identify your computer:
Peter Eckersley (Jul 2010), “How unique is your web browser?”
Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Privacy Enhancing Technologies
, Berlin, https://panopticlick.eff.org/browser-uniqueness.pdf.

your smartphone pinpoints you:
Paul A. Zandbergen (26 Jun 2009), “Accuracy of iPhone locations: A comparison of
assisted GPS, WiFi and cellular positioning,”
Transactions in GIS
13, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9671.2009.01152.x/abstract.
Paul A. Zandbergen and Sean J. Barbeau (Jul 2011), “Positional accuracy of assisted
GPS data from high-sensitivity GPS-enabled mobile phones,”
Journal of Navigation
64, http://www.paulzandbergen.com/files/Zandbergen_Barbeau_JON_2011.pdf.

Modern cars are loaded with computers:
Ben Wojdyla (21 Feb 2012), “How it works: The computer inside your car,”
Popular Mechanics
, http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-it-works-the-computer-inside-your-car.

Much of that is automatically recorded:
Nate Cardozo (11 Feb 2013), “Mandatory black boxes in cars raise privacy questions,”
Electronic Frontier Foundation, https://www.eff.org/press/releases/mandatory-black-boxes-cars-raise-privacy-questions.

A self-driving car:
Lucas Mearian (23 Jul 2013), “Self-driving cars could create 1GB of data a second,”
Computer World
, http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9240992/Self_driving_cars_could_create_1GB_of_data_a_second.

Embedded in digital photos:
Benjamin Henne, Maximilian Koch, and Matthew Smith (3–7 Mar 2014), “On the awareness,
control and privacy of shared photo metadata,” Distributed Computing & Security Group,
Leibniz University, presented at the Eighteenth International Conference for Financial
Cryptography and Data Security, Barbados, http://ifca.ai/fc14/papers/fc14_submission_117.pdf.

15 If you upload the photo:
This is a particularly creepy story about camera metadata. Mathew Honan (19 Jan 2009),
“I am here: One man’s experiment with the location-aware lifestyle,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-02/lp_guineapig.

automatic payment systems, such as EZPass:
Increasingly, governments are removing the anonymous cash option. Adrianne Jeffries
(27 Mar 2013), “Golden Gate Bridge’s new cashless tollway promises convenience in
exchange for privacy,”
Verge
, http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/27/4150702/golden-gate-bridges-new-cashless-tollway-promises-convenience-for-privacy.
Anh Do (20 Mar 2014), “Orange County’s toll roads going cashless,”
Los Angeles Times
, http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-cashless-toll-roads-20140320-story.html.
Trevor Pettiford (13 Jun 2014), “Veterans Expressway tolls to start going cashless,”
Bay News 9
, http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2014/6/13/veterans_expressway_.html.
Martine Powers (17 Jul 2014), “Starting Monday, no more cash at Tobin tolls,”
Boston Globe
, http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/07/16/starting-monday-more-cash-tobin/WZKMDilsfLULQtYiGZCrEK/story.html.

The smart thermostat:
Nest (2012), “Nest Learning Thermostat,” http://certified.nest.com/resources/NEST_POS_brochure_r7_300.pdf.

a smart refrigerator:
Eliza Barclay (4 May 2012), “The ‘smart fridge’ finds the lost lettuce, for a price,”
The Salt: What’s On Your Plate,
NPR, http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/05/03/151968878/the-smart-fridge-finds-the-lost-lettuce-for-a-price.

a smart air conditioner:
Ry Crist (8 Jan 2014), “Haier’s new air conditioner is the first Apple-certified
home appliance,”
CNET
, http://ces.cnet.com/8301-35306_1-57616915/haiers-new-air-conditioner-is-the-first-apple-certified-home-appliance.

smart smoke and carbon monoxide detector:
Heather Kelley (15 Jan 2014), “Google wants to run your home with Nest,” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/15/tech/innovation/google-connect-home-nest.

the smart power grid:
US Department of Energy (2008), “The smart grid: An introduction,” http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/oeprod/DocumentsandMedia/DOE_SG_Book_Single_Pages(1).pdf.
US Department of Energy (2014), “What is the smart grid?” https://www.smartgrid.gov/the_smart_grid.

when you’re having sex:
Gregory Ferenstein, “How health trackers could reduce sexual infidelity,”
Tech Crunch
, http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/05/how-health-trackers-could-reduce-sexual-infidelity.

Give the device more information:
Fitabase (3 Dec 2013), “Privacy policy,” http://www.fitabase.com/Privacy.

Many medical devices:
Sarah E. Needleman (14 Aug 2012), “New medical devices get smart,”
Wall Street Journal
, http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1
000
0872396390444318104577587141033340190.

It’s not just specialized devices:
Sara M. Watson (10 Oct 2013), “The latest smartphones could turn us all into activity
trackers,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.com/2013/10/the-trojan-horse-of-the-latest-iphone-with-the-m7-coprocessor-we-all-become-qs-activity-trackers.

Companies like 23andMe:
Thomas Goetz (17 Nov 2007), “23AndMe will decode your DNA for $1,
000
. Welcome to the age of genomics,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.com/medtech/genetics/magazine/15-12/ff_genomics. Elizabeth Murphy
(14 Oct 2013), “Inside 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki’s $99 DNA revolution,”
Fast Company
, http://www.fastcompany.com/3018598/for-99-this-ceo-can-tell-you-what-might-kill-you-inside-23andme-founder-anne-wojcickis-dna-r.

personalized marketing:
Charles Seife (27 Nov 2013), “23andMe is terrifying,
but not for the reasons the FDA thinks,”
Scientific American
, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/23andme-is-terrifying-but-not-for-reasons-fda.

insurance companies may someday buy:
Rebecca Greenfield (25 Nov 2013), “Why 23andMe terrifies health insurance companies,”
Fast Company
, http://www.fastcompany.com/3022224/innovation-agents/why-23andme-terrifies-health-insurance-companies.

lifelogging apps:
Leo Kelion (6 Jan 2014), “CES 2014: Sony shows off life logging app and kit,”
BBC News
, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25633647.

it will include a video record:
Alec Wilkinson (28 May 2007), “Remember this? A project to record everything we do
in life,”
New Yorker
, http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/28/070528fa_fact_wilkinson.

Google Glass is the first wearable device:
Jenna Wortham (8 Mar 2013), “Meet Memoto, the lifelogging camera,”
New York Times Blogs
, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/meet-memoto-the-lifelogging-camera.

Internet of Things:
Ken Hess (10 Jan 2014), “The Internet of Things outlook for 2014: Everything connected
and communicating,”
ZDNet
, http://www.zdnet.com/the-internet-of-things-outlook-for-2014-everything-connected-and-communicating-7
000
024930.

smart cities:
Georgina Stylianou (29 Apr 2013), “Idea to have sensors track everything in city,”
Press
(Christchurch), http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/business/the-rebuild/8606956/Idea-to-have-sensors-track-everything-in-city.
Victoria Turk (Jul 2013), “City sensors: the Internet of Things is taking over our
cities,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/07/everything-is-connected/city-sensors.

smart toothbrushes:
Sam Byford (5 Jan 2014), “Kolibree’s smart toothbrush claims to track and improve
your dental hygiene,”
Verge
, http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/5/5277426/kolibree-smart-toothbrush.

smart light bulbs:
Margaret Rhodes (23 Sep 2014), “Ex-Tesla and NASA engineers make a light bulb that’s
smarter than you,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.com/2014/09/ex-tesla-nasa-engineers-make-light-bulb-thats-smarter.

smart sidewalk squares:
Charles Stross has discussed the implications of these. Charles Stross (25 Jun 2014),
“YAPC::NA 2014 keynote: Programming Perl in 2034,”
Charlie’s Diary
, http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2014/06/yapcna-2014-keynote-programmin.html.

smart pill bottles:
Valentina Palladino (8 Jan 2014), “AdhereTech’s smart pill bottle knows when you
take, and miss, your medication,”
Verge
, http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/8/5289022/adheretech-smart-pill-bottle.

smart clothing:
Econocom (19 Sep 2013), “When fashion meets the Internet of Things,”
emedia
, http://blog.econocom.com/en/blog/when-fashion-meets-the-internet-of-things. Michael
Knigge (28 Aug 2014), “Tagging along: Is Adidas tracking soccer fans?”
Deutsche Welle
, http://www.dw.de/tagging-along-is-adidas-tracking-soccer-fans/a-1788463.

because why not?:
We’ve seen this trend before. Digital clocks first became popular in the 1970s. Initially
they were largely stand-alone devices—alarm clocks and watches—but as their price
declined, they became embedded into other things: first your microwave, then your
coffeepot, oven, thermostat, VCR, and television. Internet-enabled sensors are heading
in that direction.

Estimates put the current number:
Natasha Lomas (9 May 2013), “10BN+
wirelessly connected devices today, 30BN+ in 2020’s ‘Internet Of Everything,’ says
ABI Research,”
Tech Crunch
, http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/09/internet-of-everything.

The hype level is pretty high:
Valentina Palladino (10 Jan 2014), “Invisible intelligence: How tiny sensors could
connect everything we own,”
Verge
, http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/10/5293778/invisible-intelligence-tiny-sensors-that-connect-everything.

eyes and ears of the Internet:
Ben Hammersley (Jul 2013), “When the world becomes the Web,”
Wired
, http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/07/everything-is-connected/when-the-world-becomes-the-web.

Smart streetlights will gather data:
Newark Airport has installed these. Diane Cardwell (17 Feb 2014), “At Newark Airport,
the lights are on, and they’re watching you,”
New York Times
, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/18/business/at-newark-airport-the-lights-are-on-and-theyre-watching-you.html.

Cameras will only get better:
Olga Kharif (31 Oct 2013), “As drones evolve from military to civilian uses, venture
capitalists move in,”
Washington Post
, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/as-drones-evolve-from-military-to-civilian-uses-venture-capitalists-move-in/2013/10/31/592ca862-419e-11e3-8b74-d89d714ca4dd_story.html.

Raytheon is planning to fly a blimp:
Paul McLeary (29 Jun 2014), “Powerful radar blimp to surveil Washington, Baltimore,
out to sea,”
Defense News
, http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140629/DEFREG02/306290012/Powerful-Radar-Blimp-Surveil-Washington-Baltimore-Out-Sea.

An e-mail system is similar:
Some of that argument is here. Electronic Frontier Foundation (2014), “The government’s
word games when talking about NSA domestic spying,” https://www.eff.org/nsa-spying/wordgames.

an exabyte of data:
This is based on the reasonable assumption that a page is 2 kilobytes. It’s not really
fair, though, because so much of this data is voice, images, and video.

creating more data per day:
M. G. Siegler (4 Aug 2010), “Eric Schmidt: Every 2 days we create as much information
as we did up to 2003,”
Tech Crunch
, http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/schmidt-data.

76 exabytes of data will travel:
Cisco (10 Jun 2014), “Cisco visual networking index: Forecast and methodology, 2013–2018,”
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/ip-ngn-ip-next-generation-network/white_paper_c11-481360.html.

a petabyte of cloud storage will cost:
Chris M. Evans (18 Apr 2014), “IAAS Series: Cloud storage pricing: How low can they
go?”
Architecting IT
, http://blog.architecting.it/2014/04/18/iaas-series-cloud-storage-pricing-how-low-can-they-go.