Last week my CBC radio column covered the recent introduction of a 3D imaging surveillance system used at the Kelowna BC airport to screen passengers. Using millimetre waves the system is able to penetrate clothing and create a vivid 3D model of the passenger without clothes on. Thus it is a far more thorough system then the existing setup which only scans for metal.

Part of the focus of the column was on the privacy implications of such a system, and at the time CATSA (the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority) was claiming it had the support of the federal privacy commissioner. I mentioned this in my column, but also expressed skepticism that the current steps being taken to protect passenger's privacy was not enough.

Turns out, the privacy commissioner does not support the pilot project, and does indeed have concerns with how passengers privacy might be violated. Here's a quote from the Globe and Mail:

"However, the privacy commissioner's office said yesterday it is concerned about the implications of the new system and it never told CATSA officials that the body-scanning technology meets Canadian privacy standards.

"At this very early stage we certainly don't know enough to endorse the project, so the suggestion that we endorsed it is perhaps a bit off," commission spokeswoman Anne-Marie Hayden said. "I think we're going to have to watch it closely and we're going to want to ensure that individuals' privacy rights are protected."

Thanks to Blair Campbell for alerting me to this. Goes to show that even when an organization says it is protecting your privacy you should still question that assertion, and try and think of unforeseen ways in your rights my be violated.

Over the past several weeks I've been working with my friend Danyon Reeves on the new Bob Rae website, running on the oh-so-lovely Drupal CMS.

Recently Privacy International came out accusing Google of being the greatest threat to privacy due to the fact that their massive Google machine is constantly absorbing and cataloging information. I had a chat with Nancy Wilson about this on CBC News Today:

I've been doing a number of panels, seminars, and appearances discussing facebook. Here in Toronto and generally in Canada, facebook use has exploded, so much so that the municipal and provincial governments have banned employees of the civil service from using it while at work.

In this panel, host Andrew Nichols interviews Nora Young and myself (Jesse Hirsh) regarding the appeal and general implications of the facebook phenomena.

There has been a number of news items in the past week or so that involve camera phones. They range from stories of global interest such as the hanging of Saddam Hussein, to provincial politics with the hit-and-run scandal in Nova Scotia.