Hum. The news was showing a recent innovation. A hot pot for dispensing hot water for tea, but with a little twist. This one broadcasts information about use to a network. So when the old women that they have given these to make themselves tea, the information is sent out on a network. A caregiver then can check how frequently the women are making tea, and call on the phone if they seem to be off their normal schedule. The news showed a time-frequency display of the pumps, with several people monitored on a single screen.
If I understood the commentator, the plan is to put more things on the same system. This way a caregiver could keep track of their patients without having to physically view them.
Of course, the flip side has to be the privacy issues. I suppose these patients have asked to be monitored. I remember my grandmother being sure that the neighbors were spying on her. I imagine some older folks might decide that having their hot water (and other gadgets) usage watched was an intrusion on their privacy.
Sensors in the home, being monitored from afar. Who controls that information? Who has the right to put such monitors into your home?
Suppose the hotpot in the hotel room had the same monitoring built-in? Would you mind if room service knows when you are making coffee? What about the room refrigerator and snackbar?
I think the boundary between public and private is smudging with gadgetry. While I see reasons we may want to open our lives to them, we may also need to think carefully through what it means.
Where do you draw the lines? And how do you enforce them?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
