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NYC Food Trends @ BVBK
Nov. 26th, 2007 08:30 amNew content at the other blog, if you're interested...
Nov. 26th, 2007
More and more I've been getting concerned about other people collecting and aggregating my data. While some of this is unavoidable to some degree, there are new trends in data collection that are just starting to emerge - and business opportunists are starting to land grab those markets and usurp our rights in new and interesting ways.
The latest example of this is medical information. Google and Microsoft are both going nuts, falling all over themselves and each other, to try and establish standards and practices for collecting and aggregating people's personal medical records. Of course EVERYONE wants this, if by everyone you mean doctors, hospitals, HMOs, the government, and big business of all stripes... everyone, of course, except for individuals like you and me who couldn't care less about the aggregation part of it. Doctors and hospitals just want to make their lives easier and reduce paper usage and loss of information. HMOs want to get "anonymous" statistics so they can find more and more ways to stiff their customers out of insurance coverage. And the government and big business, well, they're always after money, and there's surely plenty of money here to be made by business and given to government officials.
What I'm not hearing is anyone advocating the people's position. Oh sure, you hear the tiny voice shouting almost inaudibly: "Privacy! Privacy!" but none of those previously mentioned parties is listening.
This is what I think would be ideal: a physical device, like a 16G or 32G flash drive, something a little like an iPod, which lets you store and carry all your medical information (encrypted of course). Biometric sensor which recognizes your thumbprint, and password protection to keep it locked down. You get to change settings on the device to tell it what information to share with other systems, and what to keep to itself. You go to one doctor's office, and wirelessly interface with his systems, transferring relevant medical data and history - when he's done, he adds to the data on your system, and you get to tag the information as shareable or not.
It's the ultimate in ownership, and it's entirely doable with today's technology. But is there a "market" for this? Who would pay for it? Do people even really care about their information? I fear the answers are "no" and "nobody" and "not really". And thus, we will cede more property to the Information Age robber barons, and lose more of ourselves in the process.
The latest example of this is medical information. Google and Microsoft are both going nuts, falling all over themselves and each other, to try and establish standards and practices for collecting and aggregating people's personal medical records. Of course EVERYONE wants this, if by everyone you mean doctors, hospitals, HMOs, the government, and big business of all stripes... everyone, of course, except for individuals like you and me who couldn't care less about the aggregation part of it. Doctors and hospitals just want to make their lives easier and reduce paper usage and loss of information. HMOs want to get "anonymous" statistics so they can find more and more ways to stiff their customers out of insurance coverage. And the government and big business, well, they're always after money, and there's surely plenty of money here to be made by business and given to government officials.
What I'm not hearing is anyone advocating the people's position. Oh sure, you hear the tiny voice shouting almost inaudibly: "Privacy! Privacy!" but none of those previously mentioned parties is listening.
This is what I think would be ideal: a physical device, like a 16G or 32G flash drive, something a little like an iPod, which lets you store and carry all your medical information (encrypted of course). Biometric sensor which recognizes your thumbprint, and password protection to keep it locked down. You get to change settings on the device to tell it what information to share with other systems, and what to keep to itself. You go to one doctor's office, and wirelessly interface with his systems, transferring relevant medical data and history - when he's done, he adds to the data on your system, and you get to tag the information as shareable or not.
It's the ultimate in ownership, and it's entirely doable with today's technology. But is there a "market" for this? Who would pay for it? Do people even really care about their information? I fear the answers are "no" and "nobody" and "not really". And thus, we will cede more property to the Information Age robber barons, and lose more of ourselves in the process.
Total Recall, or Eternal Sunshine?
Nov. 26th, 2007 05:33 pmWhich of those scenarios is more horrific when it comes to using magnets to wipe one's memory?
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/11/neurosci_guinea_pig2
http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/11/neurosci_guinea_pig2