Technology's watchful conveniences

摘要

The tracking begins shortly after we wake up. All through the day, from walking out of our houses to go to work, to e-mailing friends and shopping and working, the watchful eye of technology records our movements and preferences. Welcome to the 21 st century. Like many Americans, Kitty Bernard, a 56-year-old real estate agent, uses modern gadgets to make life easier, and along the way she creates a data trail that others can access and preserve, sometimes permanently. Every Internet search resides on a computer somewhere. Comings and goings are monitored by security cameras. Phone calls are logged by telecommunications companies. This explosion in data collection has been embraced by many Americans as a trade-off for convenience and discounts. But it also has raised questions about personal privacy at a time when the government is increasingly tapping into these reservoirs of telling details to fight crime and terrorism. The new Congress began to examine the uses and abuses of data gathering for security and commerce early in 2007. A look at Bernard's activity one recent day helps to illustrate what they're likely to find: that ordinary Americans leave a trail of digital data that are being gathered, stored, and analyzed, and that these people seldom realize it.