Technology makes most things possible, but is it right?

Aug 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Larry Anderson www.securitysolutions.com

How do we know when technology has gone “too far?”

It's a question that comes to mind often in this industry, and in society at large, as technological whiz-bang makes more things possible.

Looking forward to the years ahead, and projecting forward the accelerating pace of technological development in the last few decades, one must assume that current limits on capabilities will be stripped away and that mankind — and the little piece of it we call the security industry — will be more powerful than ever.

The issue becomes: Is the fact that we can do something sufficient reason to conclude that we should do it?

I'm thinking here of the high-profile worldwide debate currently going on about human cloning, stem cell research, genetic engineering, et. al. I'm also thinking about privacy issues relating to the information age and the Internet. And specific to our industry are questions about privacy relating to the use of CCTV and other technologies in public places (see Charlie Pierce's comments on page 52 in this issue).

If we can't depend on the limits of our technological capabilities to protect us (from what — ourselves? our government?), then we must find protection from somewhere else.

But technology is moving so fast that we as a society — and as an industry — barely have time to catch our breath. The Bigger Questions often seem theoretical, not anchored in the real world. Unlimited technological possibilities are coming at us faster than we can assimilate them.

These are issues that society will be dealing with at the highest levels. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard a case involving the use of thermal imaging to measure the heat emanating from a house, a way police can detect illegal drug production. The issue before the court: Does use of thermal imaging (in the absence of a search warrant) amount to illegal search? The court ruled that it does, in effect proving the applicability of our age-old system of laws to the brave new world of technology.

As technology evolves, we will be calling on our court systems repeatedly to make sense of it all, and to interpret it in the context of our society as a whole.

But to say that the court system is the whole answer is to cede too much territory to the lawyers. A lot can be accomplished before the first lawsuit is filed, whether through voluntary standards, regulatory control, or the de facto standard of common decency.

As we use the technological power that our industry puts at our fingertips, we should be mindful of the Bigger Questions, and resolve to be part of a dialogue to guide effective, fair use of technology in the years ahead.

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