] The microchips, already available in the United States,
] could tap into a growing industry surrounding Mexico's
] criminal concerns. Kidnappings, robberies and fraud are
] common here, and Mexicans are constantly looking for ways
] to protect themselves against crime.

If Americans aren't stupid enough to get ID chips implanted in them, go south of the border! The most brilliant thing here is that it turns out they aren't putting any actual DATA on the chip itself. Its JUST a serial number. You have to cross reference it with a database, which would presumably be easy to get access to as they want readers all over the place. Hack the database, switch the records, and your vitcim disappears.

Mexicans LOVE tracking chips

] In the age of the leak and the blog, of evidence
] extraction and link discovery, truths will either out or
] be outed, later if not sooner. This is something I would
] bring to the attention of every diplomat, politician and
] corporate leader: the future, eventually, will find you
] out. The future, wielding unimaginable tools of
] transparency, will have its way with you. In the end, you
] will be seen to have done that which you did.

A matter of fact observation about the future of privacy and the public mind made in the context of Orwell's birthday.

I used to beleive that by being able to communicate better we would understand more, and by understanding more, we would find peace with eachother.

But I increasingly find myself confronted with the fact that no matter how much cold, hard data you exchange people still see exactly what they want to see and people almost never change their minds about things that they care about. People have to learn to separate their sense of self worth from the accuracy of their beleifs, their cultural mythologies, etc... Technology is not going to solve that problem.

NY Times | The Road to Oceania

] House leaders agreed with Senate fears about the threat
] to personal privacy in the Pentagon program, known as
] Total Information Awareness. So they accepted a Senate
] provision in the omnibus spending bill passed last month,
] said Representative Jerry Lewis, the California
] Republican who heads the defense appropriations
] subcommittee.

The House follows up with the Senate. There seems to be a broad base of support of this, but its a non-decision. It doesn't really restrict TIA. It says that Congress will restrict TIA if the DOD doesn't provide a report on it within a certain period of time. Its easy for Congress to agree that Congress has authority.

Conferees in Congress Bar Using a Pentagon Project on Americans

] The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted unanimously to slap
] restrictions on a controversial Pentagon data-mining
] program that critics say would amount to a domestic
] spying apparatus.

Lots of good news today...

Senate limits Pentagon 'snooping' plan - Tech News - CNET.com

] Proponents of the machines assert that any invasion of
] privacy is not alarming because there's not much privacy
] left to invade. Grocery stores already track customers'
] personal information with loyalty cards, for example.

Bars in Northern California start collecting your detailed personal information in the process of doing an age check. The arguement above is particularly disturbing.

SacTicket // Nightlife // Taking license

] Michelin this week revealed that it has begun fleet
] testing of an RFID transponder embedded in its tires to
] enable them to be tracked electronically.

This is EZpass on steroids. These will essentially allow you to track people's movements in a very scalable and automatic way. RFID does offer the ability to track serial numbers easily without having to worry about damage. I don't see an easy answer that gives the tire industry what it wants without enabling tracking. We'll probably need a law against reading these without permission, which will, of course, work about as well as jay walking regulations....
Hrm...

RFID Journal - Michelin Embeds RFID Tags in Tires

] Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., is planning to introduce a
] bill on Thursday to halt the Pentagon's Total Information
] Awareness program.

Pentagon database plan hits snag on Hill - Tech News - CNET.com

] Physical, which operates nine gyms in the former British
] colony, recently posted signs in its Hong Kong facilities
] forbidding the use of mobile phones in locker rooms.
] "It's just some areas that are restricted for mobile
] phones," said Physical spokeswoman Miran Chan.
] "Some of these phones can be used as cameras. If someone
] uses a phone this way and takes a photo and puts it on the
] Internet, it's not very good for our members and their
] privacy."

Privacy concerns of camera phones have already begun to manifest.

CNN.com - Gym bans camera phones in locker-rooms - Jan. 14, 2003

] That raises the disquieting possibility of being tracked
] though our personal possessions. Imagine: The Gap links
] your sweater's RFID tag with the credit card you used to
] buy it and recognizes you by name when you return.
] Grocery stores flash ads on wall-sized screens based on
] your spending patterns, just like in "Minority Report."
] Police gain a trendy method of constant, cradle-to-grave
] surveillance.

RFID tags: Big Brother in small packages - Tech News - CNET.com

] "While this may sound defensible, what about having to
] provide picture evidence of your red nose and bleary eyes
] when you call in sick, or a photo of your mates to your
] partner when you go out for an evening without them."

Any interesting discussion of the potential, and potential dark side, of camera phones.

BBC NEWS | Technology | When every picture tells a story