If they know you are impaired and still let you drive, doesn’t that increase liability?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_technews/20110520/tc_yblog_technews/new-ford-smart-car-tech-wants-to-monitor-your-allergies-blood-sugar
New Ford smart car tech wants to monitor your allergies, blood sugar
On Wednesday, Ford announced that it is looking to add some rather interesting functionality to its Sync "infotainment" system. While other automakers are looking to make driving safer through improved dashboards and navigation, Ford is taking a more direct approach by monitoring allergen content and blood sugar, and providing health-based navigation assistance.
The automaker is partnering with three medical technology firms to make web-connected apps that are specifically designed to communicate with its improved Sync system, as well as integrate with the driver's smartphone. One app in discussion helps protect asthma sufferers from allergens by automatically rolling up the windows, or suggesting a new allergen-free route. Another app wirelessly connects to a diabetes sufferer's blood sugar monitor, informing the driver if their blood sugar is getting too low.
One surprising thing that Ford is opting not to monitor is blood alcohol levels, citing that it prefer to focus on more proactive health and wellness items instead. It's also worth mentioning that none of the apps in the Sync system can actually control the car to prevent driving while impaired. So even if Sync notices that, for instance, you are going into diabetic shock, it can only suggest that you pull over and grab a bite to eat — not do it for you, like a self-steering Google car might.


For my Computer Security students. If you believe in a Right to Privacy, “nothing to hide” waves that right.
http://www.pogowasright.org/?p=23010
Solove: Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide’
May 21, 2011 by Dissent
Daniel J. Solove has a wonderful article in Chronicle of Higher Education, adapted from his book Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security. Here’s the beginning:
When the government gathers or analyzes personal information, many people say they’re not worried. “I’ve got nothing to hide,” they declare. “Only if you’re doing something wrong should you worry, and then you don’t deserve to keep it private.”
The nothing-to-hide argument pervades discussions about privacy. The data-security expert Bruce Schneier calls it the “most common retort against privacy advocates.” The legal scholar Geoffrey Stone refers to it as an “all-too-common refrain.” In its most compelling form, it is an argument that the privacy interest is generally minimal, thus making the contest with security concerns a foreordained victory for security.
Go read the rest on Chronicle of Higher Education. You’ll thank me later


How you achieve your strategic objective may vary from technology to technology. Your strategic objectives should not.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/228026/european_commission_needs_help_on_cloud_computing_strategy.html
European Commission Needs Help on Cloud Computing Strategy
By Jennifer Baker, IDG News May 17, 2011 4:50 am
The European Commission wants feedback on how to manage its cloud computing strategy for Europe, where legislation is trailing behind the new technology.
Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes launched a public consultation on Monday. Cloud computing is already in wide use in the European Union, with cloud services there expected to generate revenues of around €35 billion (US$50 billion) by 2014.
The Commission now wants all interested parties, especially cloud developers and cloud users, to explain their "experience, needs, expectations and insights into the use and provision of cloud computing." The consultation particularly wants to hear views on data protection and liability as well as standardization and interoperability issues.