When Security Is Tight, Privacy Is At Risk

Advances in technology provide increased security for individuals and society, but that same technology can be used to strip away a person's privacy, making it difficult to balance the benefits and dangers of technological development. The need to find that balance grows in importance as business technology takes on a greater role in many lives, said speakers at Columbia University's "Living With The Genie" conference last week.

"Science and technology's moral and ethical roles are greater today than in the past because of what science and technology are capable of," said Bill Joy, chief scientist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems. "We have to come up with some practical way of creating mechanisms that govern privacy while at the same time resetting expectations about civil liberties."

For example, a new chip that can be implanted under someone's skin raises further questions about privacy and security. The chip can carry identification and other data that's helpful in a medical emergency, but it could make it difficult to remain anonymous. Said New York University sociology professor Troy Duster, "This is where embedded systems meet the social matrix."