Katherine Albrecht

Connected: To Everyone and Everything [Guest Editorial: Special Section on Sensors]

The activist group Consumers Against Supermarket Privacy Invasion and Numbering (CASPIAN) was founded in 1999 by ?Katherine Albrecht. The very same year Kevin Ashton, co-founder and executive director of the then Auto-ID Center at M.I.T., made a presentation to Proctor & Gamble with a title that included the phrase ?Internet of Things.? According to Ashton, ?the most numerous and important routers of all? are people [1], but people have limitations and are not very good at capturing data about objects in the physical world.

Privacy Nightmare: When Baby Monitors Go Bad [Opinion]

Reports on the technologies and hazards associated with IP cameras presenting examples of how the technology impacts baby monitors. The “IP” stands for Internet Protocol, as in an IP address. Cameras, computers and other devices on the Internet transmit an IP address so other Internet-connected devices know where to deliver content. An IP camera enables a legitimate user, like a parent who wants to monitor a sleeping baby, to stream audio and video to another device, like a smartphone. But this same remote accessibility can be exploited by a hacker.

We've Got to Do Better [Editorial]

ach year, thousands of film buffs gather at the Sundance International Film Festival in park City, UT, U.S.A., to see the offerings of the world’s brightest filmmakers. If it’s true that movies reflect the preoccupations and obsessions of the larger culture, it’s eye opening that three of the twelve contenders for international documentary film this year address the dark side of screen technology.

RFID: Helpful New Technology or Threat to Privacy and Civil Liberties?

Is radio frequency identification (RFID) and the Internet of Things (IoT) a helpful new technology or a threat to society? If you understand what the technology is and how it works, its easy to see how its widespread implementation could sound the death knell for privacy and civil liberties.

The Dark Side of Video Games: Are you addicted?

What is it with us today? We are giving over control to the machine and losing touch with the physical world around us [1]. We are witnessing the decay of our meaningful relationships-sucked into electronic vectors of nothingness-right before our very eyes [2]. Sometimes we are at a loss to describe this phenomenon, reflecting on how members of our own family have been duped by the promise of a Second Life. This article is dedicated to video game addiction.

How and Why to Keep the NSA Out of Your Private Stuff ? Even If You?ve \"Got Nothing to Hide\" [Opinion]

Have you noticed that after shopping for shoes online, you see advertisements for similar shoes on seemingly every site you visit? Its not a coincidence. You are being watched by Internet marketers. This paper discusses some sneaky ways they have cooked up to learn about you and follow your online activities.