Grocery Store and Big Brother
May 3, 2007
I had a rather strange experience a few months ago at my local Thrifty's Foods grocery store while I was waiting in the checkout line right here in Victoria, BC.
At the head of the line was a man in his early 20's buying some cigarettes and a few other things. The cashier checked his ID which apparently showed he was of age. No problem so far.
Then, the clerk began to swipe his driver's license into the store's computer. He asked what are you doing? you can't do that and took back his license. He then turned to myself and another person in line and said they're trying to swipe my information. He then made some comment about Big Brother. He was visibly upset and trembling slightly from the experience. At this point, I piped in and told him to keep standing up for himself and a little later I said that it's only going to get worse. I hoped it helped him to know he's not alone in his opposition of the continued erosion of our privacy rights.
If this brave man hadn't had the guts to stand up for himself, I would never have known this kind of abuse was taking place right in my own backyard.
Now, I can only speculate at this point as to the purpose of scanning his information. The most benign scenario would be a simple corporate grab of his data. The most malevolent would be the scan being sent to the police for a warrant check or similar (which is reported to be happening today in the US).
Regardless of the purpose, it had a very chilling effect on me personally. How far is this from being required to present ID that is scanned and verified to buy certain products or any products at all? And remember, Canada is ranked #1 in the world in terms of privacy rights protection. If this is happening here and we are #1 then what's going on everywhere else?
I think I'm going to do some investigation and try to find out from the company what they are actually doing with the information and why they are doing it. Their web site has no customer service function at all so it'll have to be in person. Should be interesting. I'll let you know what I find out.
As an aside, I've been reading George Orwell's (pen name of Eric Blair) 1984 which I haven't read since I was a teenager. This book is one powerful read. His insights into the nature of power and totalitarianism and class structure are so dead on it blows my mind.
Here is a quote from page 162-3 of Goldsteins book on Ignorance is Strength
"Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other."
"The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim - for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives - is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal. Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins over again. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims. It would be an exaggeration to say that throughout history there has been no progress of a material kind. Even today, in a period of decline, the average human being is physically better off than he was a few centuries ago. But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimetre nearer. From ever meant much than a change in the name of their masters."