Big Brother is real and he is me

[Ms Piggy]

That's not what I heard!

You don't count you live too far away!!

[KATWYN]

Yea, talk about being tracked within minutes etc. One Saturday I was at Motomail at Avondale and put my bike suit on credit card...then straight afterwards went and used the same credit card in Whangaparaoa - I then drove home (10 minutes away)

No sooner was I in the door and the phone was ringing...it was the bank....
checking up on the two transactions just made at the two locations..they knew where and how much!

Apparently when transactions are made within a certain period of time at two
totally different locations...they check up to make sure the card hasn't been
stolen...I thought their diligence was great....but sheesh bit of a worry ..really

[Skyryder]

Just wait until we all have a smart card. Just to give a small example. The new Metro card that Environment Canterbury now issue for public transport has an indavidul number. This numbered card can if lost be cancelled. OK so you have fifty dollars on it and you cancel the card: great that fifty dollars is transfered onto your new card. But get this. Because each card is indavidually numbered and leaves a record your movements on the public transport system can be monitored. The time you boarded the bus train or whatever is recorded with the route destination and this can be accessed for whatever reason. This will happen every time you use the card. Some smart card systems automaticlly monitor the stop that you get off at. Much the same type of tech. can be used with road tolls.
One of the ways database's are gathered is from that little freebee that you fill in with your name and adress that goes into the draw for the Harley, House' car or a paid holiday for two.

Skyryder

[James Deuce]

Just wait until we all have a smart card. Just to give a small example. The new Metro card that Environment Canterbury now issue for public transport has an indavidul number. This numbered card can if lost be cancelled. OK so you have fifty dollars on it and you cancel the card: great that fifty dollars is transfered onto your new card. But get this. Because each card is indavidually numbered and leaves a record your movements on the public transport system can be monitored. The time you boarded the bus train or whatever is recorded with the route destination and this can be accessed for whatever reason. This will happen every time you use the card. Some smart card systems automaticlly monitor the stop that you get off at. Much the same type of tech. can be used with road tolls.
One of the ways database's are gathered is from that little freebee that you fill in with your name and adress that goes into the draw for the Harley, House' car or a paid holiday for two.

Skyryder

The coolest thing about winning a Harley iiiiis: Selling it so you can buy lots of proper bikes.

[Sycophant]

I've never been a big fan of the "big brother knows all" type conspiricies, but of course we certainly leave our big ugly electronic fingreprints all over the place wherever we go...

But if you actually care about it, you can take some steps to make yourself slightly harder to find.

That said, some of the things people freak out about most - privacy on the internet, and a personal favourite, cellphone tracking, are possibly blown out of proportion.

On the internet, yes, the police can get a search warrant to serve on an ISP, the ISP will have to turn over details of what customer was assigned a specified IP address at a specific time.

As for wkid one's comment about static IP addresses, there are a pretty finite number of them worldwide, and as things stand almost no dialup internet customer in the world gets a static IP anymore. Infact, many internet connections are masquraded, a big group of customers will all seem to be coming from a single IP address.

And the cellphone thing - yeah, it is possible to triangulate a cellphone location in some circumstances, but it's a lot harder than people make it out. If the phone isn't actually in use, it's only tranmitting occasionally and for a very short time. The network operator can figure which cells you are connected to, and work out roughly where you are, but beyond that it's up to someone on the ground to actually wander round with an antenna and look for you

As for the Metrocard in Chch, it's interesting, but I've always liked the idea of Foodtown cards, or better still Flybys. In theory they can build up complex profiles based on your shopping habits and then tailor advertising to your specific interests and habits. This is a step further than a Credit Card company, they only have the location and total. The rewards points programs potentially have access the details of what you actually purchased.

Of course, then there's the issue of the various software on your computer reporting back to it's makers about what you have installed, maybe even what files you have on your hard drive, or what sites you visit. While a lot of these applications are called 'spyware' and shunned by sensible computer users, other companies are getting away with similar practices they choose to call "activation" or sometimes "feedback agents" - it's the thin end of a nasty looking wedge.

And don't even get me started in Digital Rights Management.

I've finished now.

[SPman]

I must admit I used to worry about all this, but, now, I, personally, dont give a shit who finds out what about me. I really dont give a damn!
Is that some sort of modern survival instinct coming out?????

[White trash]

The coolest thing about winning a Harley iiiiis: Selling it so you can buy lots of proper bikes.

Don't get me started again, Jim!

[jrandom]

Don't get me started again, Jim!

How much did that V-Rod cost again?

Wouldn't have been anywhere near what matching 'his' and 'hers' R1s would have set you back now, would it...

[Ms Piggy]

Just wait until we all have a smart card. Just to give a small example. The new Metro card that Environment Canterbury now issue for public transport has an indavidul number. This numbered card can if lost be cancelled. OK so you have fifty dollars on it and you cancel the card: great that fifty dollars is transfered onto your new card. But get this. Because each card is indavidually numbered and leaves a record your movements on the public transport system can be monitored. The time you boarded the bus train or whatever is recorded with the route destination and this can be accessed for whatever reason. This will happen every time you use the card. Some smart card systems automaticlly monitor the stop that you get off at. Much the same type of tech. can be used with road tolls.
One of the ways database's are gathered is from that little freebee that you fill in with your name and adress that goes into the draw for the Harley, House' car or a paid holiday for two.

Skyryder

This reminds me a little of George Orwell's 1984.

[vifferman]

I must admit I used to worry about all this, but, now, I, personally, dont give a shit who finds out what about me. I really dont give a damn!
Is that some sort of modern survival instinct coming out?????

Yeah, I must admit I feel much the same way, EXCEPT I'm now on some feckin list somewhere, and I get phoned several times a week, always at dinner time, some lowly-paid drone calling to sell me carpet cleaning / insurance / finance / a new mortgage / some crap I don't need.

And of course it's no use doing my scone at whoever is on the other end of the phone, because they're just trying to make a few bucks. Apart from that feckin Indian guy who phoned me and wouldn't take "NO!!" for an answer, and kept arguing with me. Persistent Bastid!! Just piss off and let me eat my feckin dinner, willya?!?

Does anyone know how I can get removed from this list (coz presumably there is one - I'm being phoned too many times about the same crap for it to be some random piece of bad fortune).

[jrandom]

EXCEPT I'm now on some feckin list somewhere

They use the phone directory. Change your number and ask Telecom to make the new one unlisted. Also doesn't hurt to have them set all your outgoing calls to default to 'private caller' instead of sending your number in the caller ID field. It just takes 5 minutes on the phone to the 123 operators.

[Jackrat]

I must admit I used to worry about all this, but, now, I, personally, dont give a shit who finds out what about me. I really dont give a damn!
Is that some sort of modern survival instinct coming out?????

Yeah me too,After working as A PI in OZ for a couple of years i realised I can,t hide sod all anyway so why bother.
The SIS has so much on me it's not much point.
When I first started my training I was held up for entry to the course while NIRTC worked out weather I was really a communist party member or not.
That came from an enqiure I made about the NZ communist party in 1979.
Bloody NZ SIS was handing out Communist party info to union members in the work place and then recording any replys they got as being possible pinko's.
I found out that the NZ SIS now have me listed as a communist party member
and I can,t do a thing about it.
Our tax dollers at work.

[SPman]

The SIS has so much on me it's not much point.
..........................
Our tax dollers at work.

And they are such incompetent barstards - it would be funny if it couldnt become oh so serious!

[Ms Piggy]

They use the phone directory. Change your number and ask Telecom to make the new one unlisted. Also doesn't hurt to have them set all your outgoing calls to default to 'private caller' instead of sending your number in the caller ID field. It just takes 5 minutes on the phone to the 123 operators.

Not necessarily. I used to be one of those "drones", I wasn't selling stuff but we did surveys on all sorts of stuff and a lot of the time phone numbers are computer generated (with out company anyway) ie. they take the first 3 numbers 383 and then mix up the last 4, so we used to occasionally call unlisted numbers - that was pretty terrible but most people were ok. I know it's a pain in the arse but I'm a poor student tryin' to earn some play money!

I must admit though I get calls from ones that get my name out of the phone book and they always ask for "Mrs XXX", I always reply; "No, there's no Mrs XXX but there's a Ms XXX" The assumption pisses me off!

[Jackrat]

And they are such incompetent barstards - it would be funny if it couldnt become oh so serious!

Incompetent don't really do it for me.
Plain sneaky dishonest pack of liars more like it.
I often wonder if that piece of false info' has effected me in other ways I don't know about.NIRTC did not have to tell me the reason,they could have just turned me down flat an I would of been none the wiser.
just as well my name wasn't Zowie I guess.