questions

Geographer Mark Monmonier, in promoting his lucid Spying with Maps: Surveillance Technologies and the Future of Privacy (Chicago: Uni of Chicago Press 02), published a "list of eleven types of surveillance that affect every ordinary citizen, or soon will". We've adapted that list, with apologies to Dr Monmonier, for Australian conditions.

Papers please! Apply for a passport, a drivers licence or some jobs and you'll need to supply details about your past and current circumstances.

Credit-card purchases. Ignore the dot-coms and 1-800 retailers: the record of your credit-card purchases reveals a lot about where you've been and when.

You wanna be in pictures? Use of video cameras (and facial recognition systems) in offices, retail premises, stations and streets and other public places is growing. Smile! Depending on image quality and retention period, video surveillance could finger you as a suspect - or help identify the bloke who nicked your stereo.

Mail-order purchases, whether by mail, telephone, or the internet. The retailer that knows where to send your packages can easily send its catalogues to you - and your neighbors.

Mobile phones and other wireless devices. Telecommunication service providers can compile detailed histories of their customers' movements.

Salaries and other payments reported to the Australian Taxation Office or other government agencies. For those not working "off the books," those agencies know how much you earn and where you work.

The population census - lthough the Australia Bureau of Statistics cannot disclose information on individuals or households, 'small area data' reveal a lot about your neighborhood.

Vote early, vote often - electoral roles for government elections (and those of other entities, such as unions) can identify who's where

Aerial photography (from aircraft or satellite). Overhead imagery can tell the local assessor whether you've put in a swimming pool or added a room to your house.

Cadastral databases (ownership and tax assessment of real estate). Where property is taxed according to assessed value, your neighbors can look up your assessment and a bit more - including the purchase price.

Medical records (physicians, health insurance firms, public hospitals, etc.). Visit a doctor or a hospital, and the time, date, and diagnosis wind up in your insurer's database.

Automatic toll-collection systems. In reducing wait time at tollbooths, E-Z Pass not only tracks cars but raises the possibility of billing drivers for exacerbating congestion during rush hour.

::