Sarah Jersild
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The BrassRing Minute was BrassRing.com's weekly technology-update newsletter. I combed through the tech news of the week, came up with a theme, and pointed readers to stories that would be of interest to them.

The BrassRing Minute
8 May 2002
Technology news from the web

This week: Somebody's watching me
by Sarah Jersild

They may not be out to get you, but you aren't necessarily paranoid. The news was filled with stories of surveillance and spying.

First up, there's the security front: Microvision and Robotic Vision Systems announced that they are teaming up to sell a biometric ID device to the U.S. government. We're talking retinal scans, fingerprints, the whole spy-game package.

According to ZDNet, "[t]he system will combine Microvision's Nomad Personal Display System and Robotic Vision Systems' ID Trace biometric authentication technology. The companies plan to co-market the system, which could be used to verify identity, and control access to naval and military bases, as well as high-security civilian buildings." Not surprisingly, interest in these sorts of devices have skyrocketed since the September 11 attacks.

But it's not just a matter of national security. eBay, in partnership with VeriSign, plans to launch an authentication service for U.S. customers in June. CNet reports that "[t]he service will access databases of phone numbers, addresses and credit reports to verify that sellers are who they say they are." Although eBay execs are pitching it as an extra service - the auction site's VP of U.S. Operations, Jeff Jordan said in a statement that the VeriSign deal will "[continue] our tradition of providing eBay users with the latest tools designed to shop in a safe, friendly and trusted environment" -- CNet notes that "[t]rust and security have been persistent concerns on eBay due to recurring cases of fraud on the site."

Not all surveillance is about security, however.Technology Review ran a paean to "innoveillance," or spying on users to see how a product is really used. It cited the case of a manufacturer of medical devices that "decided to surreptitiously videotape, with hospital administrators' permission, how nurses actually used its prototype drug delivery system." The tape revealed that nurses weren't using the product as instructed. "This information proved enormously helpful and led to a fundamental redesign of both the product and how hospital staffs are trained to use it. That, in turn, completely changed how the company marketed its systems to hospitals and nurses." Sounds great for product developers, but, as Technology Review points out, users might not be so happy with the idea.