Abuses of Power…unfortunately, not that surprising.

So this is what all those electorate office workers do for our MPs, at taxpayer expense, of course: collecting data on voters from correspondence directed to elected representatives.

Again, an article mainly dealing with Victoria (State Election a few weeks back) but it would not surprise me if Australia's two major parties are doing this is in every State and Territory. While I am surprised of the fact that our political parties are competent enough to utilise modern marketing strategies and techniques to better target potential customers (voters), this is a classic example of an abuse of power, especially as these same parties are apparently exempt from privacy legislation.

Not only "At the very least…" but all political parties should be forced to comply with every law and regulation that is enforced on businesses which rely on gathering data from their customers/potential customers. The fact that campaign workers and members of these political parties can have access to personal information serves to confirm the continual mistrust that many people have of politicians in general.

The Labor and Liberal parties (and any other political parties that use these same data –gathering techniques) should always indicate if any information is retained or added to databases etc. for any form of marketing or "information tailoring/targeting." What has the potential to undermine our democracy is the question of whether correspondence between an elected representative and their constituent is actively used in party political work. Conveniently, this may not be illegal but it surely sows mistrust in constituents who may not be of the same political persuasion as their representative but have nonetheless a legitimate reason for communication. The ever-present "I will work for all the people of (insert electorate name), even those who voted for my opponent" seem like shallow (or celebratory bubbly-induced) words indeed.

The names of the softwares that are used are a little interesting: Electrac (Labor) and Feedback (Liberal)...assuming the Liberal system to be similar to Labor's then the Liberals lose on naming honesty. Sphere: Related Content

Do we really need the new airport scanners?

Gradually more and more airports around the world are introducing the new full-body scanners. To their credit, most governments and airports maintain the scan as a non-compulsory option. Manchester (UK) airport being a notable exception – if you are selected for a scan and refuse, you can't board your flight; let's hope whoever sells you an air ticket that goes through Manchester airport makes that very clear to you.

My concerns are not so much the fact that the scans reveal each person's anatomy to a great extent, though those are valid concerns – can you really trust any of the operators to not ogle at the scanned images, no matter how much training they have had? And if operators of scanners at a US courthouse in Orlando, Florida were able to save 35,000 images, who is to say that images will not be stored in the future in the US or in another country. The real worry for me is the hidden effects of the radiation used for the scans.

I am not a radiation expert, but when it comes to exposing my body to extra radiation I would rather opt out. Air travel, mobile phones, UV rays, dental X-rays, UV lights, fluorescent lights…I have enough on my mind to worry and would rather not add another radiation source to my list. Let's not forget pesticides, herbicides, cleaning products, pollution, and a myriad of other nasties that we are exposed to on an everyday basis. The above are a fact of modern life and I accept them because they are my choice to accept. I could go and live in a far away place, grow my own food, stay indoors during the day and use home-made candles at night while my teeth do whatever they please...but I choose to live in our modern world with all its modern conveniences (and perils).

I wonder what will happen if 20 years from now we have a surge in cancer among frequent fliers and airport scanner operators (is standing near those things safe?). Or worse, what if these scans have immediate detrimental effects on sperm quality in men or pregnant women unaware that they are pregnant? What do we do with these unseen and unfelt damages to DNA? Do you feel the initial damage from UV rays that give you skin cancer? Do you feel your liver scarring little by little from drinking too much or the nascent cancer in your lungs from smoking or inhaling nasty pollution?

From some news reports, the option of a pat-down can be quite handsy…perhaps we should make air travel clothing-optional.

Image credit: Filomena Scalise / FreeDigitalPhotos.net Sphere: Related Content