This is gotten coverage on Slashdot, but I thought I would bring it some more attention. Basically Disney is using an ID code derived for two fingerprints to validate season ticket holders. I don’ t want to start a Camel’s Note analogy but is really does seem that private interests are collecting more and more information on us little folk. One thing I have not seen is a concerted effort on the part of the government to regulate what information the private sector is allowed to ask for as a requirement for completion of service.
It is been established that one private party can require another to give up even basic, protected rights as part of a contract. If you question the policy they you can politely be ask to take your business elsewhere. A ticket is a contract. So with this logic a movie theater could require that I submit to a background check for me to walk into their place of business. Sound silly? You landlord might do a credit check to verify that you can pay your rent. A prospective employer might check to see if you have a criminal record. I not even going to start to think about increasing the risk of identify theft only to ask you if you know how many companies and individuals know your home address and phone number.
My concern is that only a few people pay attention to this sort of thing. Slowly more information about you gets out into the private databases, surly more people have access to these and on one is keeping track for those who don’t pay attention. In a country where the individual is continually more responsible for every aspect of their lives and there are less and less safety nets (a vital trapping of civilization) there should at least be more discussion about this area. As usual technology is outstripping people’s knowledge of what said technology can be used for.
