Also being monitored is our Internet usage, for which we have a rather klutzy censorship system. It has a variety of things that it attempts to exclude including pornography, humor, games, streaming audio and video, etc. It is so ineffective that it frequently eliminates sites that are important to job performance.

Somewhere in the Department is a large bank of computer screens--akin to a NASA control room--that monitors and displays employee computer activities in real-time. It is refreshing to note that even though our agency has a rather primitive computer network (allegedly for security reasons), we supposedly have a very sophisticated snooping system, which is appropriately called “SNIFFER.” This sobriquet alone gives employees the creeps.

Ironically, a major part of my job with the federal government involves the use of real-time monitoring and control technologies to improve water management. I often talk about the advantages of this type of automation, but probably short-change the discussion of potential problems. One of these disadvantages is the loss of privacy. But since water is a public resource, state engineers have the right to monitor and regulate usage.

Recently, my colleagues and I have been examining the feasibility of using real-time monitoring and control technologies to improve living conditions in poorer rural areas. For example, if advanced water supply innovations are used, real-time monitoring can help insure sustainability and can assist with troubleshooting.

This type of monitoring involves the use something akin to smart meters. As this article in TIME magazine explains:

[Smart meters], millions of which have been deployed nationwide, wirelessly transmit [real-time] information about household energy use to utilities. The system is designed to cut costs in two ways: it eliminates the need to send out meter readers, and it provides real-time consumption data, which enables utilities to charge lower rates during off-peak hours. The idea is to encourage consumers to change their energy intensive ways; a decision as simple as when to run the dishwasher can have a significant effect on the bill.

But smart meters are not popular with all customers. For example, Tea Party members in Cleveland, Ohio, have decried the meters as a breach of privacy. And as sensors and communication systems get more and more sophisticated, the application of these technologies is spreading to other types of monitoring.

Loss of privacy is an issue we all need to take a hard look at. Monitoring water and energy use is one thing, but the technology has the potential to be very invasive. Various types of real-time monitors soon will be placed throughout our homes (including our refrigerators), our cars, and our bodies, with much of the information displayed on the Internet. For example, with GPS units in our cell phones and cars, it is suddenly possible to monitor our location and movement in real-time.

Hospitals can now attach real-time monitors to heart patients, even if they are not in their facility. The goal is to improve health care. But the application of these transhumanistic body-monitoring devices could allow insurance companies to monitor whether we are living up to the terms of our policy. It could also tell our boss whether we are really ailing.

Are we ready to be continually monitored in real-time? How important is our personal privacy?