Big Brother

[kav122]

Has anyone seen the news about (pertaining to the NY Governor story) the government watching everything that some people spend on a credit/debit card. They were saying that it is not just politicians and "could-be terrorists" but anything that the bank arbitrarily deems "suspicious." They just send the information off to the FBI.

Here's a story about it:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4446681&page=1

How do you guys feel about someone watching where you spend your money?

On the plus side, that is how banks, cc companies can detect fraudulent activity; on the other hand, do they need to know the specifics?

To take it one step further, how do you feel about the "rewards programs" at stores such as grocery stores? On one side, that is how they can determine (sometimes) what coupons to send you, on the other...well, do we have any privacy left?

How do you feel?

[rstlne]

I'm a member of Shoppers' Hotline so I already do willingly send my purchase data to a consumer research firm. What I want them to learn from the data is that I'll shop as hard as I need to get the best deals and that retailers should stop playing games with loss leaders and coupons and just offer everyone everyday low prices.

Also, I've been using mostly cash because of Where's George. Big Brother won't get much credit card or debit card data from me but they can sign up and track my dollar bills.

[Megan]

I honestly don't care. To me, it doesn't matter if someone's tracking what I spend my money on. It's my money and I can do what I want with it. I'm using it for entirely legal pursuits, so I can't imagine that I would be deemed suspicious, but even if I were and they decided to watch me, they wouldn't find anything interesting. "Today, suspect bought five apples and three grapefruits and some kitchen soap."

Of course, I work for the government, so I am sort of watched by big brother much of the time. I'm required to report quite a bit of my financial information due to my role in various contracting situations, for example.

[yourbeginnings]

I thought it was an interesting article about the bank noticing the money transactions of Spitzer.

While I don't agree with it there really is not much I (we) can do about it.

I agree with Megan. I really have nothing to hide. If the government wants to know what I spend my money on it really does not bother me. In addition to watching the financial big brother, I don't mind the video surveillance camera's being installed around cities.

[GOTO Fashion]

I tend to look at sharing my information as a tradeoff. For example, I want the discounts at the grocery store, so I'm willing to give them identifying information and let them track my purchases for profiling purposes. As to cameras in public places: I generally don't do anything in public that I wouldn't want anyone else to see, so I think the benefit of less crime and increased ability to find criminals and punish them is worth it. The same goes for credit/debit card tracking - since I have nothing to hide and I want the benefit of early credit card fraud detection and prevention, I'm okay with my transactions being tracked.

I generally draw the line at sweepstakes entries and those fly-by-night free stuff offers that require you to give out ungodly amounts of information about yourself - in those cases, the benefits are either too remote or to risky to make it worth the extra junk mail, spam, and telemarketing calls I'm bound to get by signing up.

[Megan]

Originally Posted by GOTO Fashion

I tend to look at sharing my information as a tradeoff.

I remember debating this with a professor in college. Apparently, she had a friend who had been using an EZ Pass to pay toll fees. His entry and exit from the toll road was recorded, and based on the times, it was clear he was speeding. He received a speeding ticket in the mail based on this information.

Now, he never denied he was speeding - he freely admitted it. He just didn't think it was fair that he got caught because he used his EZ Pass - after all, if he had seen a cop car, he might have known to slow down. (If I remember correctly, he was doing something like 90mph in a 65 mph zone)

My argument was just what you said - it's a tradeoff. He got the benefits of using the EZ Pass - the cheaper tolls and the faster entry and exit - but in doing so, he was opening himself up to being tracked and possibly ticketed.

[GOTO Fashion]

Frankly, I think a speeding ticket issued on the basis of EZ Pass data is open to challenge - e.g., how frequently is the machine calibrated, etc.?

Another interesting take on the EZ Pass risk/benefit analysis is that EZ Pass records are discoverable in criminal and civil cases (see, e.g., http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Privac...y.-a0174282007). Some of the states that have EZ Pass programs have refused to turn over those records, but the majority do. So for example, if a spouse is cheating, the other spouse can subpoena the EZ Pass records to prove it in a divorce case. Other examples include the use of EZ Pass records to confirm/disprove a criminal defendant's alibi, etc.

Unfortunately, most people don't yet realize that this is one of the risks/costs of using EZ Pass, and if people aren't aware of it, they can't take it into account when deciding whether it's worth the benefit of the added convenience EZ Pass provides.

[yourbeginnings]

There was a similar issue here in Atlanta with tickets being issued. However all were canceled a couple years ago for entrapment. Another issue we are experiencing is valid ez passes not be scanned properly and false tickets were issued.

On a side note, I recently read that the City of Atlanta is starting to remove the intersection cameras because they are causing increased accidents by people slamming on the breaks rather than risking the light turning red. Any other localities having the intersection cameras removed?

[rachael24]

I think here in Upstate New York they were talking about removing some of them. I think for the same reason, especially when we get hit hard with snow in the winter, it is causing many more accidents.

[jdp]

I used to feel passionately about Big Brother type stuff. Now I just remind myself to "move on, get over it", gone are the days when one could have privacy and a 'normal' life (vs. off the grid fanatic) so whatever.