Super Snooper, (Big Brother)

Super Snooper
by Mike Banks Valentine

You've heard enough about Big Brother to last a lifetime, so I've renamed him Super Snooper to spare you the cliche during this discussion.

Super Snooper, (Big Brother), is using terrorism as an excuse to spy on everyone, scan their irises, print their fingers, record their movements and assign threat levels to each and every one of us. The latest announcement from the airline industry tells us of the testing of a huge new database full of facial recognition files, credit card activity records, airline seating charts, travel histories, driver licenses, social security numbers, bank records, employment records and any other "relevant" information they deem necessary to track terrorists.

The computer all this information is stored on is capable of noting who you sit near on the plane and if you know anyone else on the passenger list. It knows if you've been sleeping. It knows if you're awake. It knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness sakes! Super Snooper knows all-in the name of security and safety. I hope everything it knows is, not only true, but unfailingly correct in it's conclusions drawn from everything stored in those really deep data piles.

Snooper sniffs the slightest whiff of smelly actions and, using predictive behavior models, assigns a threat level to you and me and dear old Auntie Mabel. Well, that's O.K. with me! It's all in our best interest, right? Security and safety are more important than protecting privacy, right? Right?!

Lest you think I'm exaggerating, hop over to the Washington Post story from January 31, at the link below and review it for yourself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5185-2002Jan31.html

It's not just terrorism that is putting security in the news headlines and privacy on the backburner. This week Microsoft announced the appointment of a new Security Czar who takes the helm as their top privacy protector on April Fools Day. Scott Charney is a former Department of Justice Cybercrime cop who calls the top security job at Microsoft, "Irresistable."

His characterization of his new job is no doubt due to the horrible security breaches built into Microsoft's products and he relishes the challenge of plugging all those many gaping holes.

For my part, I wish him well and hope he succeeds on a grand scale since security of Microsoft products is critical if they gain even the smallest adoption of the .Net Passport system that requires registration of all MSN products users as it is built in to their latest iteration of Windows, Explorer, Outlook Express and required of each of the MSN web services such as hotmail, bCentral small business services and each of their web portals.

I predict, without hesitation, that individual privacy and enterprise network security will be the blockbuster issues of computing and the web in the coming year. Super Snooper is, like it or not, going to be snooping and sniffing you, your grandmother, your kids, your neighbor, your friends, your enemies and all our biometrics to compare all that information to profiles of known terrorists. I know, I know, you're very harmless and sweet and innocent and honest and true.

It's those bad guys I'm worried about, so you don't mind if we profile you, right? We won't attach any of that information to your .Net Passport, your medical records or your tax files.

Really! We promise! Super Snooper is only after terrorists. Nobody is interested in all that information we have on you. Betcha it's totally secure too (on Microsoft IIS server soft- ware that is completely patched and impervious to hackers or criminals or even that cybergeek who lives next door.) I know that because Microsoft has a new Security Czar who starts his irresistable job on April Fools Day!