Loss of Privacy

Speaking a CeBIT, Professor August Wilhelm Scheer made the astonishing claim that one in four Germans would be happy to have an implanted RFID chip in their skin if it meant more convenience for them, particularly waiting times at the grocery store.

As well as foretelling the imminent demise of the CD and DVD, Professor Scheer said that implanting chips into humans was going to become commonplace. “The speed of the development is not going to be reduced this decade,” he told an audience of tech execs and politicians including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “Some developments can already be seen. CDs and DVDs are going to disappear as material sources of information. Wallpaper will be replaced by flat screens and many of us will have chips implanted beneath our skin by the end of next decade.

Rather than being based on pure speculation, Scheer said that his organistion BITKOM had actually conducted research which had shown that a quarter of Germans would be happy to have a chip implanted if it meant they could access services more easily.

“We just carried out a survey and one out of four people are happy to have a chip planted under their skin for very trivial uses for example to pass gates more quickly at a discotheque for example and to be able to pay for things more quickly in the supermarket,” said Scheer. “The wilingness of the population to accept our technology is certainly given.”

The results of that survey are on their website [pdf] . If you look closer at Mr. Scheer’s statistics, 72% do not want an RFID implant.

Stats are hard to figure out, especially when it’s been reported that 1 in 7 Germans want the Berlin Wall back because the country was better off when it was split.

A link from Bruce Schneier’s website to another link to YouTube, I discovered this video. I don’t speak German, however, if you watch closely the scanner picked out the cell phone and Swiss Army knife, but it missed all the components needed to make a bomb.

The former head of the West German Military Intelligence has issued a book revealing secret details of a 1949 US-German treaty, alleging America and its allies have been deliberately suppressing the nation’s sovereignty.

The Freedom not Fear demonstration on Saturday was meant to be peaceful [in German] .  The police, however, displayed examples of brutal violence.

25,000 people from more than 160 groups attended the demonstration, which was organized by those who are concerned about censorship and privacy in Germany.

freiheit statt angst / freedom not fear – demo 12.09.2009 from Gerd Eist on Vimeo.

According to the police [in German] , the gentleman with the bicycle was asked repeatedly to leave and, when he didn’t, he was arrested.  Since the police statement and the video do not agree, an investigation has begun.

Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen announced that Germany will now have mandatory web filters to protect the children from pornography.  The list of web sites will also be updated every day.

Despite new studies that confirm the Internet is less dangerous than going to school, this measure to block access to certain web sites was touted as being vital to preventing children from being harmed.

Again, this has come down to the issue of child pornography, which everyone except pedophiles, agrees should be banned.  However, no one, including children, simply stumble upon child pornography sites.  They have to be sought out.

You can read the article in German and in English.

Remember, it’s not really about child porn; it’s about control.  Nothing good can come of this.