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Show #5 |
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Privacy RedefinedHow safe is our personal data? Not safe at all regardless of what the authorities would like us to believe. SCENE: Data-miningDigital scanning at super market checkout lines, magazine subscription forms, appliance registrations. We will watch how this information is gleaned from the unsuspecting public and licensed to waiting business around the world. Credit card companies, credit bureaus, telephone companies, travel agencies and others are all inter-linked. By knowing our number they determine our finances, eating habits, travel preference, tax records and beyond. Can anything be done to prevent this personal trespass? How safe are our tax records? Can the IRS be prevented from processing our tax payments? Is the Social Security System safe? Not Us, We're BritishThe British jealously guard their privacy. To this day they refuse to accept the introduction of ID cards. The British driver's license has no picture. Yet, they naively embrace the SmartCard way of shopping which passes on virtually an individual's entire personal profile to the company they are doing business with. Cyber CrimeWe have already seen what teenage hackers can accomplish as a prank. What about dedicated criminals? Is our banking system safe from digital compromise? Can the government stop the threat of digital counterfeiting… or will we have to become a cash-less society to protect ourselves? Strategic DefenseDigital miniaturization has reduced truckloads of secret documents into computer hard drives that can fit into a coat pocket. Witness the events at Los Alamos. What's more, technology can be copied and sent around the world without detection. This means an increased vulnerability. How do we protect our secrets? Does this force us to seek new global disarmament initiatives? Will there be a new digital arms race? The Internet was created as a communications system that could survive a nuclear attack. Has it become the Trojan Horse that has compromised our national security? Super Computer EmbargoDeployment of high power computers can destabilize society. That is why our government has placed an embargo the Apple's G-4 computer. Is that really practical? Especially if it can be purchased in any electronics store and shipped overseas? Future ChallengesDoes society have a "Pause" button? With innovation proceeding at this accelerated pace, how can society adequately plan for its future? As high-tech speeds along, what low-tech enterprises will it disgorge, transforming the economic landscape?
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