Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Your Total Information Future

Ronald Bailey | 11.5.2004 3:33 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

A cautionary tale from the ACLU. It's not so much that the pizza delivery company will know a lot about you, it's that Uncle Sam will know even more.

Thanks to Pamela Friedman for the tip.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Federal Government Passes Gas

Ronald Bailey is science correspondent at Reason.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (11)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. Poindexter   21 years ago

    HaHa! And you thought you got rid of me! I'm EVERYWHERE!

  2. Jimmy Antley   21 years ago

    That's a really good demo. on what we will be up against soon. (Actually, I am pleased the ACLU is actually agreeing with me for a change.)

    It's kind of coincidental, but I just took out a book from the library (oh, but you probably already know that ;-}, and they have the RFID tags working. They can be of so much good in say, distribution, retail, etc., but can be used to bad ends also - and yes I know the range is fairly small now (like 2 ft. of so) due to the chips having no onboard power - enough comes from the receiver to enable the chip to produce an electrical field containing the info. (96 bits or something like that).

    I didn't know the technology was on the market already.

  3. Jimmy Antley   21 years ago

    About the pizza place, it's hard enough to fool them these days to get them to deliver to the bar.

    On the bright side, technology to block the transfer of information comes along almost as quickly. I.E. caller ID, then caller ID blocker. Of course, the phone company still has all the information, blocking or no, so that's the real problem ...

    ... not for them, of course. I think they will soon have Super-Caller-ID for $3.99 more + taxes, which will show even "blocked #'s. Then it's time for Super-ID-Blocker, which can block numbers to even the Super-Caller-ID enabled lines. It will cost $5.99, plus taxes. It's like arming the Iranians and the Iraqis during the 1980's. Win-win situation!

    I think the lesson is, when governments or big companies (which will give up the information and kiss the governments's asses when requested to) are the keepers of the info. that enables services to work (i.e. caller ID) then we are in trouble. There's got to be ways to keep the data distributed. Oh, like the internet, why didn't I think of it, AlGore?

  4. metalgrid   21 years ago


    Your Total Information Future

    Shouldn't that be "Your Totalitarian Information Future"?

  5. The Lonewacko Blog   21 years ago

    I call retread.

  6. Paul   21 years ago

    Who Hijacked the ACLU website for this one? Wouldn't all the aging hippies there be FOR THE HEALTHY FOOD SURCHARGE?

    But seriously, it's good to see the ACLU is making some noise about the LARGER picture of the governments invasion into our lives, instead of the small handful the ACLU picks and chooses (or invents).

    Paul

  7. Jason Bourne   21 years ago

    Frontline has an interesting piece next week on what the political parties know about us:

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

    There will also be a discussion of how this information is used - e.g., narrowcasting, etc.

  8. Dan   21 years ago

    Who Hijacked the ACLU website for this one? Wouldn't all the aging hippies there be FOR THE HEALTHY FOOD SURCHARGE?

    There's also something a bit disingenuous about a bunch of lawyers scaring us with a dark future in which buisnesses make heart disease victims sign a liability waiver before eating fatty foods. There are a number of foods Californians can't get at a restaurant without signing a waiver, and we have asshole lawsuit-happy left-wing lawyers to thank for it.

    I'm also not sure why the "credit cards maxed out -- get cash" thing is supposed to be bad. Oooh, the dark, scary future, when I'm no longer able to defraud the pizza dude with invalid credit cards and bounced checks. And why is it supposed to be scary that a pizza place might check to see if they were delivering to a high-crime area, and bill accordingly?

    I have a feeling that the stuff in this ad (the stuff that is vaguely believable, that is -- not the "we check your vacation plans" crap) is supposed to automatically be Super Duper Scary just because it's a corporation doing it.

  9. bob   21 years ago

    I read about you in an article critical of Eliott and Lamm and their Malthusian philosophy. I'm here looking at $80/bl oil soon. I guess you're a bit wrong there. Then I surfed this board to your global warming post. I guess I'll skip Reason Magazine altogether

  10. Sandy   21 years ago

    The irony is that many of the people who contribute to the ACLU want EVERYONE to pay $20 extra for meat pizza, not just those who would adversely affect insurance premiums by consuming it.

  11. lesbo   20 years ago

    Hi good site thank you free sex videos - playboy.com free sex movies - teen model free porn videos - group sex free sex pics - kama sutra naked teens - preteen sex

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Trump Shreds the Constitution By Bombing Iran

Matthew Petti | 6.21.2025 11:04 PM

Quebec's Dairy Farmers Are Blocking Free Trade in Canada

Stuart J. Smyth | 6.21.2025 7:00 AM

The Criminal Justice System Was Found Guilty in the Karen Read Trial

Billy Binion | 6.21.2025 6:30 AM

Obama Adviser Jason Furman on Biden, Neoliberalism, and Keynesian Economics

Nick Gillespie | From the July 2025 issue

The Federal Government Owns Too Much Land. Selling It Helps Rural Communities.

Jack Nicastro | 6.20.2025 5:37 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!