Ordering pizza is not so simple

LaurenMitchell — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:54:03 +0000

The ACLU is using this video to promote their campaign to collect signatures for a petition to stop a national ID and database program. The Real ID Act, passed by congress in 2005, would connect all state DMV databases into one interlinked database, “facilitating government tracking of Americans.”

Although the ACLU admits that we haven’t gotten to this point yet, they say that “we are fast approaching a surveillance society where every move, transaction and communication is recorded, compiled, and stored away to be examined and used by the authorities -- and even private corporations --whenever they want.” That last part--that companies will have access to this database--is very disturbing to me. The video plays upon that concern perfectly in giving a simple pizza restaurant access to all sorts of personal information about the customer.

There’s also a hint of a nanny state in that the customer’s health records can restrict what he’s able to buy. Considering how much of our lives happen electronically, it seems that “the system” depicted in the video is a real possibility. I think the bottom line here is that I just don’t want everyone knowing what size pants I’m buying.

viz. - ACLU

Ordering pizza is not so simple