technoculture203-09

When discussing privacy, it is important to distinguish between information which is gathered anonymously, and that which is identifiable. However, the distinction between the profile developed from online interactions and the identifiable individual can be blurred. I found this article which addresses the development of a program to monitor interactions online, to identify profiles of suspicious behaviour. This organization describes their intentions as providing "automatic monitoring of public resources such as: web sites, discussion forums, UseNet groups, file servers, p2p networks as well as individual computer systems." The program is designed to profile for "abnormal behaviour", presumably referring to terrorist or criminal activities. However, in identifying these profiles, the information for other 'innocent' people online is also collated. We can consider Foucault’s application of Bentham’s Panopticon to explain why this is a privacy concern. The internet user may guard their interactions, as they do not know if they are being observed. The fear of observation may feel like an invasion of the privacy of the individual, and contrary to ideologies regarding the liberatory nature of the internet.