Tracking And Biometric Technologies: Context Update

Tracking And Biometric Technologies: Context Update

In 1999, when addressing consumer privacy issues, Scott McNealy, the CEO of Sun Microsystems, said, “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.” Sun Microsystems was a member of the Online Privacy Alliance, an industry coalition that wanted to head off government regulation of online consumer privacy in favor of an industry self-regulation approach, and which was eventually successful. Twenty years later, society finds itself in a similar position on privacy, but this time as it relates to biometric tracking technologies. Some individuals and members of government are debating the problems and potential issues surrounding facial recognition and biometric identity solutions, while others in the government and in corporations are experimenting with the technology and its effects. There may eventually be some regulatory guidelines surrounding these technologies, but in the meantime, the security they claim to provide and the ease and convenience they claim to offer as well as the profits they can generate are outweighing those concerns and encouraging adoption.

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