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-Multimedia 7.4 No Secrets: Computers and Privacy 7.5 Inventing the Future: Embedded Intelligence and Ubiquitous Computing Chapter 7 Database Applications and Privacy Implications

Singing the Praises of Big Data?

Most of us have an uneasy relationship with big databases: We take advantage of the convenience and freedom they bring to us, but we don’t really like the fact that they know so much about us. Singer/songwriter Vienna Teng captures the tension that exists between those contradictory feelings in her beautiful, slightly chilling Hymn of Acxiom. We’ve included a YouTube video with the song’s recording as well as links to an article telling the story behind the song, and a page with lyrics. All three are highly recommended.

Vienna Teng Sings about Surveillance in ‘Hymn of Acxiom’
Lyrics for ‘Hymn of Acxiom’
Key words: databases, big data, privacy, surveillance
Icon: crosscurrents

Categories
-Cross Currents 10.3 Security, Privacy, Freedom, and Ethics 10.5 Human Questions for a Computer Age 7.4 No Secrets: Computers and Privacy

Is Privacy History?—Snowden’s Message

Edward SnowdenEdward Snowden made a decision that changed the world. By leaking top secret government documents to the press, he revealed that US surveillance of private and public citizins goes far beyond what most of us had previously imagined. Because of those leaks, people all around the world are asking important questions about the balance between privacy and security in a free society. In a chilling statement to the BBC, Snowden claimed that he’d accomplished his mission by raising those questions. What do you think?
theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/edward-snowden-channel-4-christmas-day-message

Categories
-Inventing the Future 10.4 Security and Reliability 10.5 Human Questions for a Computer Age Chapter 7 Database Applications and Privacy Implications

House Flies or Tiny Spies?

Drone aircraftThe drones used in Middle Eastern wars may rapidly evolve into tiny flying cameras that can watch our every move and report back to governments, corporations, or crime networks.