Enjoying Technology's Conveniences But Not Escaping Its Watchful Eyes

ENJOYING TECHNOLOGY'S CONVENIENCES BUT NOT ESCAPING ITS WATCHFUL EYES
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ellen Nakashima]
Many Americans use modern gadgets to make life easier and along the way create 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 has begun to examine the uses and abuses of data gathering for security and commerce. A look at one person's activity one recent day helps to illustrate what they're likely to find: that ordinary Americans leave a trail of digital data that is being gathered, stored and analyzed, and that these people seldom realize it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501304.html
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* E-mail
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501442.html

* Cellphones
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501440.html

* GPS Tracking
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501443.html

* Security Cameras
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501441.html

* The Legal Tangles Of Data Collection
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501301.html