Conference 7.286::digital

	Re: .0

	Whew !

	Electronic badges are no big deal.  I thought they would
	start re-issuing badges made of that white markerboard
	material -- they could just erase your name when they
	needed to replace you.   Think of the savings !

	Steve H

    As I understand it, the badges have a privacy button that turns of the
    finder capability.  Just as well.  I wouldn't want my secretary coming
    to get me out of the third stall for a meeting.
    
    I don't much like the idea, but I guess its as inevitable as increases
    in weekly medical plan payments.
    
    Why not just give the people beepers?

	As I understand it, there is some work underway at the Digital/Olivetti
	research lab in Cambridge (I rather thought this was Cambridge England
	rather than Cambridge MA) on multimedia and active badges. I think the
	idea is you walk into a room and automatically get logged in and your
	phone and workstation based video-conferencing calls follow you about
	the place etc...

	I suppose that with anything like this there is the potential for
	somone to start playing big brother, but you could always take the badge
	off!.

	I work in DEC Park in Reading UK (population 1500ish, and decreasing)
	which has card key controlled access to the entire building, so even now
	it is possible to determine who is in the building, and who isn't. One
	positive application of this is that during a fire evacuation the fire
	wardens are given printed lists of those known to have been in the building
	so that everyone can be accounted for.

	Brendan.

    You should hear about the new "efficiency improving" badges they have
    just started using in Japan. They are known by the acronyn EAU for
    "employee acquisition units" Each badge is a finely tuned
    electromagnet. DEC has placed large mega-gauss ESU's " employee
    summoning units" in conference rooms, managers offices etc, anywhere
    employees might be needed immediately. When an employee is needed
    the manager simply fires a 10^25 Joule charge through the ESU at the
    employees frequency and emits and super dense gaussian wavefront for
    hundreds of kilometers in all directions. Wherever the employee is
    the magnetic force latchs on to him and brings him back to the office
    at a high rate of speed. Since most of the building walls in Japan
    are paper damage to the valuable employee is kept to a minimum. As
    you might expect though a few minor bugs have been identified and
    are being worked on. One employee when summoned late at night for
    a meeting unexpectedly brought his wife with him. She stood right
    in front of him and stared at him the whole time. In another incident
    when an employee was summoned it was learned quite dramatically that
    he had left his coat containing his badge on a city bus. The damage
    unfortunately was significant.  

  Subject: New Access Control System for ZK

  Over the past few weeks, we have collected considerable feedback and
  experience with the card key locks on the machine room doors and
  plant exits.  Based on this experience, we have concluded that the
  card key system is inadequate for a number of reasons.

  * Requiring frequent use of card keys is an inconvenience for
    employees.

  * Despite a number of warnings, employees continue to "tailgate"
    others through card key controlled entrances.

  * Due to fire code regulations, we cannot require the use of a card
    key to leave a secured area.

  * As a result, we have not achieved the desired level of control and
    accountability and so have not secured adequate protection against
    equipment theft and other security breaches.

  We have therefore decided to switch the facility to a laser-based bar
  code scanner system.  All employees will wear bar code tags.  Scanners
  installed at controlled entrances and exits will automatically scan
  the bar code and unlock the door without requiring any overt action
  on the part of the employee.

  Because of the added convenience of the bar code scanner system, we
  plan to expand the use of access controls in the facility.

  * Lab and plant exits will have scanners on both sides, allowing us
    to monitor egress as well as entry.

  * Locks will be retrofitted to the fire doors in the hallways,
    allowing us to partition the office areas into separate security
    zones. Employees' tags will initially be programmed to access to
    their own office areas only.  Access to other areas will require a
    request to Security.

  * Additional scanners will also be set up, for example, along the
    windows, by the men's and ladies' rooms, and in the cafeteria.
    The resulting data on employees' movements will be available to
    their management on request.

  * Scanners mounted in offices will enable us to limit the use of
    office telephones to authorized employees and bill their use more
    accurately.

  Installation of the scanners will commence shortly and we will phase
  in their use over the next several months.  Because of the
  considerable feedback we have received from the VMS development
  organization, we have chosen that group and their computer labs for
  the initial pilot installation of the scanners.

  The vendor of the scanning equipment has assured us that the lasers
  pose no hazard to personal safety.  Because we are especially
  concerned about your safety, we are taking a number of additional
  measures to doubly ensure that the scanners present no hazard.

  * The scanners will be mounted overhead to keep them out of the
    normal line of sight.  Employees are advised not to look up in the
    direction of a scanner.

  * Employees are advised not to wear reflective jewelry or metal
    framed glasses in the facility.

  * We will make available glasses designed to filter out the color of
    the laser.  Employees with sensitive eyes or other concerns will
    be able to purchase these from security at cost.  Both regular and
    clip-on styles will be available.

  Because of the overhead mounting of the scanners, we recommend that
  tags be worn as high as possible to allow them to be seen by the
  scanner. For most employees, either shoulder should be appropriate.
  Persons shorter than 5' 6" may attach the tag to their forehead if
  they have trouble with the scanners.

  Because of concerns over the convenience and durability of the bar
  code tags, we are investigating other options. We may be able to
  provide stylish berets and headbands embroidered with the bar code.
  Another option would be to have the employee's bar code tattooed on
  their forehead, but a number of factors such as summer sun tans and
  termination procedures have not been worked out.

  To ensure correct operation of the scanners, employees should take
  the following precautions:

  * Please refrain from wearing clothing with closely spaced stripes.

  * Hair should be a uniform color. "Streaked" or graying hair may
    confuse the scanners and should be avoided. The health services
    department will have Grecian Formula available for those who need
    it.

  * Above all, do not bring any packages with exposed UPC labels or
    tabby cats into the building.

  Should you have any trouble activating a scanner and find yourself
  locked in or out of an area, please go to the nearest phone and
  contact Security.

  Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions
  about the bar code scanner system, or need further clarification on
  the above items. As usual, comments and suggestions are welcome, and
  encouraged.

    While electronic badges are probably inevitable, loss of privacy is
    not.  There was a good article in a recent _Scientific American_ about
    maintaining privacy through the use of cryptographic techniques in
    smart cards.
    
    Most of the article explained how currency transactions could be
    handled while maintaining privacy -- a bank could download bank notes
    (representing dollars or other currency) into a customer's smart card,
    the customer could "spend" the notes with a merchant, and the merchant
    could "deposit" the notes with the bank, yet the bank would not be able
    to identify which customer had spent which money where.
    
    Similarly, smart badges could prove to a system that a person is
    entitled to entrance to a building or room without specifically
    identifying that person.
    
    
    				-- edp

    .2
    
    The reason they were not given beepers is that the employee could not
    be found fast enough when they needed to be blown up (tfso'd).  In fact
    they found that the employee would hide for a day or so after being
    beeped.  Thus, using the "smart badges", an employee could be tfso'd 
    real time.

    re: .0
    
    One of the folks at CRL showed me their badge last time I was there,
    and he was very excited about it - saw it as an example of cutting edge
    technology that we are investing in. It allows people, and if wanted,
    phone calls, to track you down. It has a privacy switch.
    
    I could see it's usefulness if it is an optional tools, with use
    dependent on the needs of the group. For example we could use it to
    find colleagues who have set up camp in a nearby conference room, and
    that person can shut off their badge should they not want to be
    "found".
    
    Thorgan

    I want a job in Cambridge!  Those people must be VERY important which
    means extremely high salaries.  :)

    re .9
    I was just sort of thinking the same thing.  I'm just a humble
    principal engineer, and am certainly not important enough that I need
    to be immediately findable at all times when I am inside HLO.  If I
    were anticipating possible emergency phone calls (non-work ones), I'd
    rent a beeper.  For work-related "emergencies" (few of which are
    life-and-death the way non-work ones can be, like when my father was
    dying of cancer several years ago) there are a dozen people whose
    offices are within fifty feet of mine who could probably handle the
    same set of potential emergencies that I could handle.  So I don't
    think any of us need fancy electronic badges to make us instantly
    findable.
    
    /Charlotte
              

    re: .9 and .10
    
    I do believe that CRL stands for Cambridge Research Labs. The kind
    of place where this type activity would occur.
    
    Jim C.
    

    But, what if you were a physician, doing your hospital rounds, and an
    emergency came up with one of your patients who was in another area of
    the hospital?  
    
    Rather than using the traditional beeper method, which could take a lot 
    of time, the phone closest to you rings (thanks to CIT) and the 
    emergency can be dealt with much faster. 
    
    That's only one of the ways I saw it demonstrated.  
    
    I thought it was pretty neat.  You can turn it off so "Big Brother"
    can't find you.  
    
    Paula

A few days ago on the way home, I was listening to All Things Considered (a news 
program that goes into things more deeply than most), on National Public Radio,
and there was a short feature on exactly this.  A reporter called the Olivetti 
Research Centre (sic) in Cambridge, England, and asked the operator for someone 
by name.  After a delay of less than 5 seconds, the guy answered.  He said that 
he was actually in someone else's office, and that the operator had been able to 
locate him from the location of his 'active badge', and was then able to dial 
the telephone in that office.  

Obviously, the thing was set up ahead of time, since she then proceeded to 
interview him, and he was obviously a proponent of the system (perhaps even a 
developer of it?), and was not surprised to be interviewed.

The privacy issue did come up, and he said that you could always take the badge
off if you wished.  It wasn't exactly a deep examination of the privacy issues.

Bryan

    I think the greatest benifit to this kind of technology is the ability
    to expose fraud at events such as COT (Circle of Turkey). In fact, we
    should put these badges on the turkeys and, in that way, we can
    actually determine who has more than one turkey in their organizaton.
    
    Actually, I think it's a great solution for the medical industry.

>
>The privacy issue did come up, and he said that you could always take the badge
>off if you wished.  

Unless the company requires, and enforces, its wearing.


Also, care to bet that the privacy switch can be 'overridden' in case of
emergency?

-Joe

	These do not have to be people-finders, they can also be used with
	equipment.

	I belive we were selling these to Ford car manufacturers to help them 
	with inventory.

	Heather

Technology is value-neutral, as all technologists should know.  

Every tool is a weapon and every weapon is a tool.

I saw a presentation on these badges at CRL.  They're certainly aware of the
political and social issues.  They said that hospital applications were the
first to be discussed, not only for finding doctors, but also for tracking
patients.  Furthermore, the badges could be used to facilitate record keeping
on such matters as how long a physical therapist worked with a patient.

The badges are capable of a degree of two-way communication and could be 
used to warn when someone enters a dangerous area.

They reported that there had been problems at Olivetti early on when
phone-answerers reported exactly where people were to outside callers.  They
removed the sensors from the rest rooms almost immediately.

The sensors are infra-red and therefore line-of-sight.  No sensor, no tracking.

    As far as I'm concerned, when I'm "on the clock" (if there is such a
    thing for my wage class) I am not entitled to "privacy."  If I need to
    take a break, then I am entitled, but not when I'm supposed to be
    working.
    
    Steve

    You might have at least included the mail header, with the date on it
    }8])
    
    Bill Parke
    VMS Engineering
    

    Re .18:
    
    > As far as I'm concerned, when I'm "on the clock" (if there is such a
    > thing for my wage class) I am not entitled to "privacy."
    
    There is no such thing for my wage class.  I am paid for the job I do,
    not the time I spend doing it.  Digital buys my software engineering
    services and nothing else -- not my privacy, my political beliefs, my
    religious beliefs or anything else.
    
    You really think you are not entitled to privacy?  None at all?  Would
    you accept a video camera point at you, recording you every second you
    were on Digital property?  Would it be okay to record all your
    conversations, both by phone and in person?  If Digital made
    computerized records of what you wore everyday, would that be okay with
    you?
    
    
    				-- edp

    re: -.1
    
    The answer is to your questions, "yes."  Even though I am WC4 and don't
    have to record the times that I work, I do have times that I COULD
    report and it does not follow with the normal 8 to 5 schedule nor does
    it normally come in at or under 40 hours per week.  In fact, when I
    worked for TI there literally was a video camera pointing at me while I
    worked that was monitored by security.
    
    In fact, if I were to be a VP someday, I would expect that a video
    camera might well be trained on me at places other than the
    conventional workplace during an interview and, yes, I would have no
    claim to "privacy" at those times that I represented Digital.
    
    I have no objections to my phone conversations being monitored by
    Digital.  There are some who I assume are being monitored who work for
    Digital already.  As far as what I wear everyday, that is a matter of
    public record -- for those who care.  I don't care if what I wear while
    "on the clock" is recorded.  I'm being paid to operate on Digital's
    behalf.  If Digital wants to record what I do while I do it in return, 
    fine.  If Digital wants me to be available to them while I'm "on the
    clock," fine.
    
    When I ran for state office some time ago, the idea of having a camera
    and a mic shoved into my face at any moment (outside of the workplace) was 
    reality and not a matter of my privacy being violated.  It came with
    the job.
    
    Steve  

    some people just don't get it- it's not so much privacy, but trust and
    responsibility.
    
    Ogre.

re .18

 >As far as I'm concerned, when I'm "on the clock" (if there is such a
 >   thing for my wage class) I am not entitled to "privacy."  If I need to
 >   take a break, then I am entitled, but not when I'm supposed to be
 >   working.
    
Well, it's nice to know that some people are perfectly
well-adjusted to modern times; you hear so much these
days about folk who just don't fit it.

    re. 21
    
    The badges themselves may not be a big deal, but .21 says something
    about human nature that applies outside of the workplace.  If the Bill
    of Rights were not so difficult to remove from the Constitution, it
    would have long ago disappeared -- not because government would have
    taken it away, but because the people would have given it away.
    
    I understand that, by and large, we are not talking about
    Constitutional rights here.  Still, anytime people so readily give up
    any of their claims to freedom, it endangers my freedoms as well.
    
    Tony

    I think the new badges are fine, and I am glad to hear we are testing
    them.  I would like to try for communicators too.  It is not the
    technology that either threatens or guards our privacy.  It is us, our
    beliefs and practices.  There have been times (many) when the phone has
    violated my privacy, but it is not the phones fault.  It is just a
    machine.  The violation is the act of the person.
    
    It would be very really handy if one could ask the phone or computer to
    find me and it would do so.  BUT it is the person who must decide if
    the interuption is warrented.  
    
    Let the technoligy go forward (it will anyway), we - as people - need
    to decide what is and is not appropreate behavior, regardless of the
    technology involved.
    
    Judy
    

I agree with .22 -- it's a matter of trust.  Specifically,
is DEC saying "we trust you" or "we don't trust you"?

Just like, oh, glass jars aren't intrinsically evil.  But on
the other hand, that doesn't mean that I'd appreciate being
asked to piss in a glass jar when I came to work.

     Ya gotta rely on the ingenuity of Digital employees.  This electronic
leash is merely an opportunity for lots of folks to come up with clever 
ways to fool the system.  One day, we'll read about how the system indicated
that 3000 people were in a single men's room in Maynard.

                                       Greg

As far as I know this, like other CRL work, is still research -- not some type 
of implementation for Digital.

Readers here could help by suggesting ways that customers might actually use
such technology (or alternatives) so that the ultimate result for product 
design would improve.

	The places were this would not be an abuse don't seem to be talked
	about much. It seems to me that cost alone would keep this sort of
	thing from being implimented everywhere.

	On the other hand in high security places this would be great. Forget
	privicy in some of them as it is. I've worked a number of places where
	visitors had to be escorted everywhere. Yes, even to the bathroom. It
	seems to me that visitors badges, at least, would be a natural use for
	these badges. They could also be used in high security places to set off
	lights or bells to let people know that a non-cleared person was coming 
	through. Beats having someone walk ahead yelling a warning.

	It also seems logical that some critical people who have to be located
	quickly in a large plant might wear them even if most people don't.

	Everything can be abused but it seems silly to assume that because they
	can be abused that everyone who will use them will abuse them.

			Alfred

    Electronic badges are a great idea for a *product*, say, for hospital
    workers and other life-and-death situations, but *not* a great idea for
    a "new DEC badge", as the title of this note says.  At least, I sure
    wouldn't want one - nor do I think it owul dbe cost-effective for me to
    have one, as I said: I'm not "important" enough to need to be findable
    every minute I'm inside HLO.  Neither are most, maybe all, of the rest
    of the folks who work here.
    
    /Charlotte

    re: .24
    
    I would be one of the first to defend my or anyone's Constitutional
    rights.  Those rights are defined and protected for individuals by the
    government.  Those rights are protected in the workplace as well.  But,
    the government also has to protect the rights of the other guy as well
    as my own.  That includes protecting the rights of corporations. 
    So, where should the line be drawn?
    
    When I work for Digital I always ask myself, "Is what I'm doing right
    now of benefit Digital?"  As an engineer, I'm paid to think on
    Digital's behalf.  I have friends that loath the thought of selling
    your thoughts.  They regard it as a violation of their rights and would
    rather labor with their hands and not allow someone to have any control
    over their thinking.  It's a choice I made in exchange for money.  I
    have a Constitutional right to choose and think as I will.  I also have
    a right to sell my ability to choose and think to the highest bidder if
    I want.
    
    Similarly, the Constitution guarantees us rights to move about freely.
    But, we also have the right to sell that freedom to an employer on a
    limited basis.  It's not illegal for us to use freedom to go to, say,
    Kansas instead of work today.  But, it may violate a contract that says
    we'll show up to work today.
    
    Another example.  My freedom of speech is guaranteed by the
    Constitution.  But, as an employee of Digital I agree to further
    constraints that go beyone my Constitutional rights.  I can portend to
    speak for Digital and give away trade secrets to the Boston Globe any day 
    I choose and claim it as my Constitutional right.  But, as an employee
    there is a constraint placed on my rights such that if I were to do so
    I may well end up being terminated, sued by Digital and brought to
    personal bankruptcy by the Constitutional government.
    
    I don't mind selling some of my Constitutional rights on a temporary
    and limited basis.  I am free to negotiate the terms.  It's a normal thing, 
    it just doesn't sound right.  That's the way things work.  We give up
    some of our personal freedoms in exchange for employment.  It's not a
    question as to whether or not we will do it.  It is a question as to
    what extent we will do it and how much compensation we'll get for it.
    
    Would you be willing to have a video camera and microphone trained on
    you so that you can be scrutinized for several hours each day in exchange 
    for a six-figure salary?  That's what successful TV anchors do ...
    
    Steve

><<< Note 2184.31 by ECADSR::SHERMAN "Steve ECADSR::Sherman DTN 223-3326 MLO5-2/26a" >>>

    
>    I would be one of the first to defend my or anyone's Constitutional
>    rights.  Those rights are defined and protected for individuals by the

OK then, defend my "Constitutional Rights"
I live in a country which has no written constitution.

	Craig

    re: -.1
    
    Sorry.  Can't help you.  If your country has no constitution, you have
    no claim to Constitutional rights.
    
    Steve

    Boy, has this topic gone silly...
    
    I think it's a great idea, and I'll bet that the CRL secretaries are
    ecstatic!  No more phone messages, fewer "telephone tag" calls.
    
    Now, how about expanding the idea?  What if we were each assigned a
    unique telephone number that anyone, anywhere, could dial ... and it
    would ring the nearest phone?  Does this mess with your privacy?

Anyone remember the 1967 film "The President's Analyst", starring James
Coburn?  One of the plot elements was that "The Phone Company" (back then there
was only one!) wanted to have a miniaturized transmitter/receiver implanted
in everyone's brain, so that you could call someone wherever they were and
you'd be able to find them.

AT&T almost "has it now" with their "Easy-Reach" 700 service.

It's all a bit scary!

			Steve

    
    
    You could implant them into a prisoner and track them.  The parole
    officer then could monitor a released inmate easier.  Police officers
    could use them and in case one of them got shot they could quickly find
    them or if in a disturbance the dispatcher could send backup help
    without the officer needing to radio for help.  Hey,  this is starting
    to sound like that Arnold Shwartzineger (sp?) movie Total Recall.  Do
    we really want to go this far?
    
    
    Ken
    

>    You could implant them into a prisoner and track them.  The parole
>    officer then could monitor a released inmate easier.  

	We have piloted electronic tagging on people who have been charged, and
	let out on bail with crufew restrictions.

	However, they were too easy to disable, so at the moment it won't be 
	used as standard.

	Heather

I have not read through all the replies to this note but, as a person involved
in funding this project I thought I might clear up a few misconceptions.

We have a lab in Cambridge, Mass. which is called the Cambridge Research 
Laboratory (CRL part of CRA under Sam Fuller).  They are participating in the
research and testing of active badges.

There is also a Cambridge Research Laboratory in England and Olivetti Research
Laboratory is located nearby.  Neither of these is a Digital facility but 
another Digital facility, the Paris Research Laboratory, is involved in joint
research with Olivetti to investigate, among other things, active badges.  
Cambridge Research Labs, UK are also working with them.  

Active badges are a very interesting application in the areas that have been
mentioned before such as location of personnel in hospitals, marking patients
who have life threatening conditions, security control in high security or 
dangerous areas (nuclear power stations for example), etc.  Of course the use
being made in the laboratories is only to investigate and understand the 
technology.

Cheryl Bettels, (formerly External Research Program)

re; .36..... and a tiny little caplet of C5 or Pentex could be included 
             in the implant....

              "Violate" your parole...Bang!
               Break any law...Bang!
               Protest against the "establishment"...Bang!
               Vote for Ross Perot...Bang!
               Get "rightsized" Bang!

              This concept of "smart" credit cards, tracking badges and 
              "universal" ID cards smacks of further inroads on our personal
               privacy, which in turn leads to curtailment of our "rights"
               such few as remain at this point.

  

re .38:

Thanks for the clarifying the difference between Cambridge Research
LAB'ratory and Cambridge Research LaBORatory.

	Wasn't this also being demo'd at DECWORLD?  

    re: .39 ... and the Bang! scenario
    
    There was a movie on HBO not too long ago with just such a device
    (an exploding collar to be exact).  I think the name was "Wedlock".
    
    re: various about taking the badge off ...
    
    One local high-tech employer here in town uses an RF-tag built into
    a bracelet to allow the computer systems to automatically identify
    anyone who walks up to a terminal.  It was originally intended to
    simplify the users' tasks:  no need to continually retype username
    and password just use a common-area terminal for a moment.  However
    the management has already discussed the possibility of using the
    system as a general locator and security monitor, and is now talking
    about using clip-lock bracelet bands such as those used by hospitals.
    You know, the ones you have to *cut* off ...
    
    I'm already on an electronic leash of sorts:  I carry a pager.  But
    the nice thing about a pager is that *I* can choose whether or not
    to respond based on what I'm doing at the moment.  It still astounds
    me that people in a face-to-face meeting will drop everything at the
    ring of a telephone bell.  Why should it be that any person who just
    decides to call is more important than the person in front of you who
    has taken the time to come and see you personally?
    
    Geoff

    Geoff,
    
    I think the design of the phone system encourages one to pick up the
    receiver to stop the confounded ringing.  Once you've done that, you
    feel it impolite to just hang it up again without acknowledging the
    caller.  With call blocking, that isn't necessary but then, someone
    will complain about not answering the phone!
    
    Dick

	Re .42

>>							It still astounds
>>    me that people in a face-to-face meeting will drop everything at the
>>    ring of a telephone bell.  Why should it be that any person who just
>>    decides to call is more important than the person in front of you who
>>    has taken the time to come and see you personally?

	I guess there is a message for you when somebody does 
	that:  "this call might well be more interesting or 
	important than what we are doing right now".  If it 
	happens to you a _lot_, take heed!



	Never happened to me.  Well, perhaps once or twice :-)

	Jim

    .42 makes a good point. this area need allot of etiquette.

    In my life before DEC when I used to go to my Boss office to be screamed 
    at, his phone used to ring, and he just never opened it, he just
    ignored it, as if it was not there, it kept ringing all the time while 
    he screamed, and then the phone stopped ringing by itself .

    i always used to leave his office feeling good that my Boss actually
    ignored the phone just because i was standing in his office.

    this is sensitive area ,  it is good that we are discussing it here.

    /Nasser



    

    not answering the ringing phone is also a Time Management tool.  Let
    the VOICEMAIL take all the calls and return them all at once.  The goal
    is to reduce interruptions of your regular work.

    That policy is already in place ... call 100 DEC phone numbers and
    you'll most likely get 85 voice mail accounts.

    this happened to me sometime last year, I called someone i've been trying
    to get hold of , left messages etc.. on the friendly voice mail thing,
    but still no reply, so for one week , i used to call them every day, 
    to see if i can get hold of them a live.

    one day i got lucky, the actual person themselves did
    answere the phone, i screamed inside of the excitement of the
    moment , only to hear the person tell me that they did not really mean 
    to answer the phone at that time, and because they were busy at that
    moment , that i should try to get hold of them again when they were not 
    so busy ;-( 

    i was not even the tax collector !
    

    re: answering phones when someone's in the cube
    
    I almost never answer the phone when I'm talking with someone
    in my office.  The person I'm with is more important.  I'll admit
    this results in some strange reactions from people, from bemusement
    to downright discomfort and even fear ("Aren't you going to answer
    your PHONE?!").
    
    If someone's with me and it rings often enough, I just reach behind
    it and pull the damned wire out (love those modular plugs) for a
    while.  Whoever's on the other end can send mail.  If it's my wife,
    I'll call her back later.  :-)
    
    re: Tracking badges, unremovable tracers, etc.
    
    That'll be the day...
    
    My business relationship with any company is that I provide a
    certain amount of work for a certain amount of compensation, and
    agree to abide by company policies to the extent that they do not
    conflict with fundamental human rights.  I didn't sign away my
    humanity when I came on board.
    
    Of course, if they made those tracking badges shaped like the
    Star Trek insignia, and built little communicators into them,
    most likely everyone would love 'em.
    
    Chris

    re. .49
    
    Amen!

I'm for the Star Trek badges!!!!    

As for the ST badges, it seems that the head honcho has to ask the computer for
the info as in "Computer, locate Cmdr. Data? "  As with any technology it's how 
it's used that can cause the trouble.....

    The shut off switch for the smart badge sure SOUNDS as if the employee
    has retained some control of his/privacy.  But I wonder what the
    consequences could be if an employee made too frequent use of the
    privacy feature?  Would a boss interpret a shut off badge as admission
    of "non value added use of ones' time"? (read xxxxing off)  So, the
    shut off sounds good but I wonder how often one would dare USE it.
    
    In general I am against 'big brother'/excessive Gov. control etc. and
    this smart badge employee tracking system sure sounds to me as if its
    a giant step in the wrong direction regarding human freedoms and
    rights.
    
    Jeff

    re .21  Wow! do you realize what you are saying?  I hear you saying
    that you are such a perfect employee that 100 % of what you say and
    do when your on Co. Property is and should be available for ANYBODY
    to monitor.  Guess you had better NEVER complain or make a snide remark
    about anyone because you never know who might be watching or listening.
    
    But the BIGGER POINT (FAR BIGGER) IMO isn't whether YOUR constant
    performance and behavior is beyond reproach its whether the SYSTEM
    OF BOSSES can be flawless enough to appropriately respond to your
    monitored results.   How about the computers which can record EVERY
    keystroke error you make, and then report to the bosses whether
    employee X or Y has fewer errors?  Do you REALLY want to be under such
    a magnifying glass?  I know, you have nothing to hide so what does it
    matter?  It matters because you are making the assumption that the
    'system' you report to is perfect.  It isn't.
    
    Digital hires me to do a good job and has a right to expect it.  There
    is no need to know every minor gaff I might make during the day as long
    as my total performance is adequate.
    
    Jeff

    Wow ... we've gone from this (in .0) ...

    >>30 employees in the Cambridge office have been wearing electronic badges 
    >>which with the aid of sensors in the building allow an employee to be 
    >>'found' anywhere in the building. Its supposed to keep the employee 
    >>locatable for phone calls, etc.

    ... to this (in .53) ...
    
    >> But the BIGGER POINT (FAR BIGGER) IMO isn't whether YOUR constant
    >> performance and behavior is beyond reproach its whether the SYSTEM
    >> OF BOSSES can be flawless enough to appropriately respond to your
    >> monitored results.   How about the computers which can record EVERY
    >> keystroke error you make, and then report to the bosses whether
    >> employee X or Y has fewer errors?  Do you REALLY want to be under such
    >> a magnifying glass?  
    
    Now that's what I call stretching a point beyond credible limits.  I
    don't think this or any other company is interested in the kind of
    overseeing of it's employees that some of y'all are imagining ... to
    begin with it wouldn't be cost effective (there's got to be some kind
    of measurable return on investment to justify the purchase of all that
    monitoring technology after all).  Add to that the rather practical
    limitation of how much time and energy most managers in this company
    are willing to put into keeping tabs on their employees, or to what end
    they would find the information useful, and I think that we're a long
    way from seeing any such tracking devices put into use at Digital or
    anywhere else where there isn't a compelling reason (such as national
    security) to do so.
    
    Perhaps those 30 employees in Cambridge are working on a project that
    requires this kind of monitoring.  Or perhaps they volunteered for some
    kind of pilot project to see if this type of technology really does
    help them get their jobs done.  Who knows ... I haven't seen anything in
    here but speculation ... and some rather vivid imaginations at work.
    
    There's a great deal to be paranoid about in today's working
    environment ... however, I don't think this topic is really worth all
    the wasted effort and disk space that it's taken up in here, except as
    an exercise in creative writing.
    
    Then again ... just because you're paranoid doesn't mean somebody isn't
    trying to track you down ... ;^)
    
    								... Bob
    

    re: .53
    
    Heck, no!  I make no claims to be perfect.  Digital would have to be
    paying me a LOT more than it does if I were.  I do claim to deliver to
    Digital what I'm paid to deliver.  And, to that end, I stand behind my
    product.  It's up to Digital to scrutinize the product.  It's up to me
    as to whether or not they pay me enough for the scrutiny.  Would I be
    willing to be scrutinized for every keystroke?  SURE ... if the price
    is right!
    
    The issue is not how my bosses will respond.  This issue is whether or
    not I am willing to stand behind my product or not.  Am I confident
    enough about my abilities to put myself on the line?  Of course.  Am I
    the perfect employee?  Not at all.  But, I personally guarantee I'm as
    good or better than what Digital is paying me to be and I'm willing to
    let Digital verify that.
    
    Steve

    re: .54
    
    Just ask anyone who has worked as a telephone operator at any phone
    company about monitoring.  The degree of monitoring and use of the
    information will surprise you.
    
    Bob

 re: .53
 >   re .21  Wow! do you realize what you are saying?  I hear you saying
 >   that you are such a perfect employee that 100 % of what you say and
 >   do when your on Co. Property is and should be available for ANYBODY
 >   to monitor.  Guess you had better NEVER complain or make a snide remark
 >   about anyone because you never know who might be watching or listening.
    
  Jeff,

  I would CERTAINLY say that I would have NO problem with 100% of what
  I say and do whilst on Company Property being monitored by ANYBODY.

  That does NOT mean that I never complain, or that I don't lose my
  temper or that I only say things which are complimentary of the 
  people I work with and of Digital.  

  Nor does it mean that I think such monitoring is desirable.

  It DOES mean that I don't ever regret what I say, or say and do things 
  behind people's backs which I am not prepared for them to hear.  In fact 
  if I DO say something about Digital or people I work with, you can be 
  fairly certain that I have already complained to the most appropriate 
  person/department/whatever or told the person involved my feelings. 

  Cathy

    I guess the DEC security people read "The Firm", like all the NYC
    straphangers, and want to put some of the monitoring ideas they read
    there in place!
    

    Re .54 et al  Its not that I am sure that the use of the badges WOULD
    result in misuse by the Co. but it sure opens up the possibility.  I
    have read horror stores (tel co for example) about the abuse of
    detailed monitoring information by officials, AND the abuse is not
    necessarily going to be by the company, it could be by anybody with
    legal or illegal access to the informaton.   As others have said the
    technology may not be at fault... the use of the technology can be at
    fault but the results of misuse can be the same to the employee.
    
    Forgive me for being paranoid, maybe I am being even though people
    ARE after me (smile).  Its just that the maxim  if anything CAN
    be misused it WILL be misused eventually by somebody, and these badges
    are not exception.
    
    No we should go back into the stone age and burn the smart badges, but
    we SHOULD be aware of appropriate use of them and not be too quick to
    trade off the trust our employer should put in us in exchange for baby
    sitting smart badges.
    
    Jeff
    Jeff

... again, if we focus on the research, perhaps we can help.

Certainly the researchers who've agreed to wear such protos are aware of 
'big brother' concerns but are willing to try them out for learning's sake.
As with anything, it's still unclear *how" customers might use a technology,
even one with potential social implications. Some researchers have already 
talked to customers but would appreciate more visions if possible.

Given that they'll work on the technology that *could* enable the "nearest 
device" to boot up automatically, or *could* enable the nearest phone to 
delivery *your* call, or *could* enable your own choice key information to 
broadcast to your choice of most-convenient-personal-device, ... what might you
do with it?

Those with ways to "bounce ideas" with customers might be of great service by
commenting. Certainly the "early adopters" of technologies could contribute to 
our collective wisdom here. Granted the concerns about 'control' have merit 
but I hope they don't preclude idea-sharing -- remember this is not a product 
proposal.

It's this kind of informal dialogue with future-oriented customers, absent of
"tell & sell" pressure, that could lead us back to some market advantages. 

/L