Welcome To Big Brother Island

Culture

from the fun-for-the-whole-family dept

Wired News is talking about a tourist island in Maine that is being blanketed with security cameras, motion detectors and sensors all tied back into a computer with some artificial intelligence to keep out the “bad people.” Yes, it sounds like the pitch for a bad movie combining sci-fi with reality television (“Dave. You’ve been electronically voted off the island. Dave.”). The folks behind the project, however, claim that privacy is a “two way street,” suggesting that sure, you’re being monitored by a computer, but at least it means you’ll feel safe that you’re not being stalked by a rapist. The system is designed to recognize regular “good” visitors to the island and let them on without any problems. However, the “bad” people who dare to sneak up via kayak will be shot on sight (well, maybe not that drastic…). Still, as a last ditch effort to ward off complaints, the folks behind the project say that, if anything, they’re helping to bring up discussion issues around surveillance and privacy rights.