laravastava

Excerpts

On Mobile Phones and Social Behaviour

In another context, owning a mobile might seem to assuage an increasingly lonely urban existence. But is a virtual connection to anyone at anytime a real panacea to human isolatio? Moreover, the quality of face-to-face communications may be threatened by the always-on nature of mobile phones. Interaction with those that are present can be interrupted at any moment by interaction with a remote other—leading to a scenario of being ‘always-on, always there’ but ‘never here’.

- ”Mobile phones and the evolution of social behaviour” in Behaviour and Information Technology, 2005

On Technology, Personal Consumption and Identity

From the foregoing considerations, it emerges that the notion of identity is complex. It incorporates not only philosophical considerations but also legal and practical ones. Identity is what makes individuals the same today as they were yesterday (sameness), but it is also what makes them different from one another (uniqueness). Underlying identity is the distinction between the private and the public spheres of human existence, and as such identity and privacy are forcibly linked43. In practical terms, identity can include parameters such as a social security number, a date of birth, a job title, a bank account or a credit card number. Some of these parameters are used both online and offline. As the boundary between the private and the public in the digital age becomes increasingly blurred, the creation and maintenance of secure identities online has emerged as an important priority for businesses and consumers alike. Governments, too, are looking for ways to effectively streamline their procedures, offer e-government services, and reduce criminal activity. The confirmation (or in technical terms, authentication) of identity in the online world is much more difficult than it is in the everyday “real world”, and comes with its own set of challenges. As such, there is a progressively important role to be played by digital systems that can simply and accurately identify, to the extent required, persons, machines or even things44, while minimizing the risk of access by unauthorized third parties. This goes beyond assuring the security of networks or of transactions (e.g. through PKI or SSL), to a coherent system for managing identity online.

- Digital.Life, ITU Internet Report, 2006

On the Faustian Bargain of Technology

No one can deny that the expansion of such “anywhere, anytime” communication technologies, for “anyone and anything”, will bring about increased convenience, greater access and a whole host of innovative applications and services. However, the capacity of these technologies to impact human lives (private and public) will grow correspondingly. This brings to mind the notion of the “Faustian Bargain”54 in the context of technological change: while a given technological advancement may improve many aspects of daily life, it also runs the risk of reducing the advantages of earlier developments or earlier ways of life. It is only through an increasing awareness of this risk that humanity (and societal progress) can be preserved in what has become an ever-expanding sea of technology and automation.

- “Ubiquity for Humanity” in INFO, 2007.

On IoT: Tagging Things, Sensing Things, Thinking Things, and Shrinking Things

The Internet of Things is a technological revolution that represents the future of computing and communications, and its development depends on dynamic technical innovation in a number of important fields, from wireless sensors to nanotechnology. First, in order to connect everyday objects and devices to large databases and networks – and indeed to the network of networks (the internet) – a simple, unobtrusive and cost-effective system of item identification is crucial. Only then can data about things be collected and processed. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) offers this functionality. Second, data collection will benefit from the ability to detect changes in the physical status of things, using sensor technologies. Embedded intelligence in the things themselves can further enhance the power of the network by devolving information processing capabilities to the edges of the network. Finally, advances in miniaturization and nanotechnology mean that smaller and smaller things will have the ability to interact and connect (Figure 2). A combination of all of these developments will create an Internet of Things that connects the world’s objects in both a sensory and an intelligent manner

- The Internet of Things, ITU Internet Reports, 2005

On Privacy and Digital life

Over the ages, privacy as a concept was not explored in much detail, and was not a popular subject of consideration. The great classical philosophers seem to have left it alone. But it is unlikely that this was a conscious omission. Perhaps it was thought to be a core aspect of existence, inherent in the processes of life. Indeed, the right to privacy has in many circles been viewed as the cornerstone of freedom and liberty.Freedom lies in the ability to better understand one’s position in the world and to develop opinions independent of external pressures. Indeed, a good deal of individual thought is a private matter. It has traditionally been thought that what one thinks, believes and knows is inalienable to oneself, and may only be revealed with the voluntary consent of the thinking person. Slowly and gradually, however, this notion has begun to erode. Today, eavesdropping or monitoring by all sorts of agencies (not only governments) seems to have become regular practice. Large amounts of information can be gathered by a variety of actors, for legitimate or illegitimate purposes.

In the end, it will most likely boil down to one thing: intention. Data about an individual or a group of individuals in a digital environment can be used for beneficial as well as nefarious purposes. In this respect, digital technologies share common characteristics with many other technologies such as nuclear technology. Somehow, vigilance will have to be exercised and means found for the elimination of illegitimate uses of private data. This is doubtlessly urgent and important. At stake is human freedom itself which is recognized to be the very foundation of modern civilization. The maintenance of the privacy of designated data can be indispensable for the maintenance of a free society. This is especially true given the universal availability of computing power. A society in which every detail concerning an individual’s interests and associations are recorded and easily available will result in a total freeze of movement – the equivalent of a traffic jam. The same holds good for the individual. It is on the basis of confidentiality and some minimum level of privacy that individuals are able to function. As data acquisition and accumulation proceeds apace, the equilibrium between privacy and convenience is increasingly threatened

- Digital.Life, ITU Internet Report, 2006

On the IoT and Socio-Ethical considerations

The advent of the Internet of Things is set to create a plethora of innovative applications and services, which will serve to enhance quality of life and reduce inequalities while providing new revenue opportunities for a host of enterprising businesses. For the telecommunication industry, it is an opportunity to capitalize on existing success stories, such as mobile and wireless communications, but also to explore new frontiers. Still, in a new world increasingly mediated by technology, we must ensure that the human core to our activities remains untouched. On the road to the Internet of Things, this can only be achieved through people-oriented strategies or, in other words, tighter linkages between those that create the technology and those that use it

In the interest of governance and social order, technology is a growing mechanism for mediating surveillance. Technological surveillance has far-reaching implications, particularly in an increasingly ubiquitous network environment – one in which not only people are connected and tracked, but the things they come in contact with are as well. Often, it seems, computer records (particularly data and records relating to companies) are treated with much more respect than information pertaining to individuals (e.g. the location of individuals and their shopping habits).

Whether real or imaginary, an environment of surveillance can instil distrust and fear in humans, creating heightened anxiety in the exercise of choice and the making of decisions, no matter how small. Since decision-making is essential to individual self-fulfilment and self-expression, it is also crucial to societal advancement as a whole. On the other hand, suspicion and paranoia detract from healthy social intercourse, as well as creativity and overall human development. Moreover, although the creation of a network of smart things will further automate daily tasks, the complete automation of human activity is not a desirable outcome. Whether implanted with an electronic code or not, each human is unique and should be treated as such. There is little to gain from an increasingly conformist and uniform society. Individuality and self-expression are important catalysts for societal progress. A techno-political environment (in which individuals become mere numbers) must not be encouraged. Moreover, some numbered individuals may be included, while others might be excluded, in many cases in an arbitrary and automated fashion. This form of “social sorting”88 has led to the creation of an industry devoted to the clustering of various populations, breeding further discrimination and fear.

- The Internet of Things, ITU Internet Reports, 2005