[ExI] privacy again

[spike]

>... On Behalf Of BillK
Subject: Re: [ExI] privacy again

On 11 March 2016 at 02:51, spike  wrote:
>
<snip>
>>... A device could be set up with automated face recognition or 
> human-assisted motion detector activated recognition.  Imagers are 
> cheap enough that proles could set them up in hotels and figure out 
> which room any person of interest is temporarily inhabiting...
> This whole case may have spawned an industry.
> All privacy in any public space is gone.
>

>...The UK is ahead of the game already.

<http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2016/03/12/snoopers-charter-heads-for-the-bathroom/>

>...BillK
--------

Heeeeeeeheheheheheeeeee...

Ja, the UK has done more with this from the security viewpoint than has the colonies.  But what I was looking at was celebrity tracking.  This looks to me like an emerging industry, enabled by idleness.  Today there are plenty of people with nothing to do.  We have easily available section 8 housing and food stamps.  That gives the unemployable a lot of time on their hands.

When I was doing a lot of business trips to LA, I used to land in Burbank, which was a favorite airport for movie stars.  I have been out of that loop for so long I didin't recognize any of them, but I know what they look like in general, how they carry themselves and how others treat them.  They are often travelling with at least one other person, who is often a sturdy young man, carrying their stuff.  

If one were inclined to do such a thing, I can imagine someone hanging around in the Burbank Airport, or LAX, a network of them working together, reporting on the physical location of rock stars and cinema biggies in public.  A spotter could note someone, record what flight they boarded, then by the time the plane landed, fans could gather for a glimpse of their favorite celebrity.

Can you imagine doing that for a living?  Or worse yet, a hobby?  Jeez, is that lame or what?  

We could start one for science biggies.  But not tech biggies: those guys have their own planes.

You know there would be ambitious biggie-wannabes.  They might make it a goal to be tracked by a fanbase site.  (What would we call them?  Emerging mediumies?)

I ask myself, if something like that existed, is there anyone I would drive ten miles over to the port to watch him or her walk by?  Hmmm... maybe.  Particularly if the site is geek-oriented rather than sports and entertainment.  

Most of those I would drive to SJA are authors.  I might go offer to help carry a suitcase to his or her rental car while trying to not be annoying.  I would probably do that for guys who need help, such as Edward Teller who was a local and still travelling when he was 90.  I can imagine a travelling 90 yr old guy might appreciate a modest fan club, perhaps a couple of open-minded groupie girls in their 60s offering aid and comfort, that sorta thing, or if it was Admiral Grace Hopper, groupie boys.  Or hell, just a friendly greeting as they go by, small talk as they wait for the plane, bring them coffee and donuts, nothing that involves wardrobe malfunctions or anything like that.  I know a math biggie over at Stanford who rides a wheelchair.  I would swing over and help him on departure and arrival.  Remember when ALS victim Hal Finney was still with us?  I would be willing to sashay over to the port if he came to town, help him with is luggage. 

The more I think about it, a geek-oriented people tracker with all-volunteer participants, with both the tracker and the quarry willing, is kinda practical.

spike