Toilet Digital ID causes Internet Controversy
When it concerns digital technologies we here in Britain are used to be feeling like living in the Stone Age when compared to the advanced wonders of the Far East. Miniaturisation and digitalisation entered almost every aspect of their daily life continuing to surprise unprepared Westerners. Almost every British visitor comes from Japan with a regular story about electronically equipped public toilets which turn a rather mundane and touchy process into some kind of elaborate and lavish ritual accompanied by a row of unexpected pleasures. However, even Japan is way behind in terms of toilet digitalisation when compared to one neighbouring city-state where recently a network of advanced 21st century public toilets was installed all over this tiny city-state.
The government of this tiny country decided to celebrate the entry into the new millennia by unveiling the most technologically advanced network of public facilities. It was indeed yet another world wonder with advanced auto-sensing flashing system, built-in 3D washing device, automatic wiping glider and many more things we have no name for in English language yet. Not only each node in this network is connected to the central hub and to all others via high-speed digital link but also they are interlinked in a complex network relaying all of the matter produced in the process to the highly advanced faeces treatment facility where they get sorted and processed for further recycling and that’s why the facility was dubbed EcoTech Loo. What is however crucial for our story that these toilets are of course featuring broadband high-speed wireless internet access with 35-inch sensor touch screen and virtual keyboard provided. But to understand the importance and the true significance of the issue raised by recent events we need to look into the history of the service in question first.
Despite of all these technological advances, shortly after the open day the system had run into some sort of unforeseen trouble. When designed the system was supposed to be free for all citizens of the country except certain categories that included among others criminals on probation, high income earners, sex offenders, known members of terrorist organisations and so on. As all those belonging to these categories have almost natural tendency to cheating the system it is not surprising that the number of paid entries into public toilets for the first year was next to nothing. The alarm was raised after the annual first report of the EcoTech Loo PLC. As soon as this figure was revealed to public, concerns started to spring up regarding mainly not the financial loss as such, but the very principle of fairness which was compromised in this case. Although the fee when paid was rather substantial nearing 10 pounds in UK currency (roughly US$ 20) the EcoTech Loo PLC is a public-private partnership and essentially not for profit enterprise, so the main issue was to find a way to restore the justice in this sensitive area. Initially the solution was to introduce personal entry cards providing free entry for all eligible individuals and charging appropriate fee automatically from the accounts of those who had no right of free entry. But the pilot scheme failed miserably as it turned out to be that it is not only extremely easy to clone the first generation cards equipped only with magnetic strip, but also there is no way to verify the true identity of the user. Some criminal gangs immediately sniffed the opportunity to make a quick buck and organised groups that provided an entry for a smaller fee using either counterfeited or stolen entry cards.
The solution obviously had to cover two aspects: increased security of the card itself as well as to introduce some way of verifying the identity of the actual user. If the former problem could be solved relatively easy just by replacing magnetic strip with a miniature chip the latter required the use of some advanced technology. It was decided to install some advanced biometric sensors right into the seat but this was not the most complex part of the system. The key to its success was brought by state of the art biometric recognition software, programmed not only to take into account significant differences between male and female private parts, but also to be able to provide 100% accuracy while recognising male standing position. When the second generation toilet cards with on-chip biometrics came into use in 2002 it was such a success that many were queing over night to replace their old cards despite of the significant cost (90 UK pounds or over 180 US$) and initial biometric recording that had to be performed on a special recording seat in presence of two independent witnesses. Needless to mention that re-recording of biometrics had to take place annually to take into account natural changes that occur in human anatomy with time.
This new system was not only efficient, practical and convenient on its own but also triggered an unimaginable chain of innovation that brought public services in the country to unprecedented heights.
Firstly the Department of Health seized the opportunity to identify toilet users and proposed to install express test devices right into every toilet to run a quick test on urine and faeces. Test results were passed direct into individual computer files kept in the department, thus allowing not only to gather public statistics but also to provide each toilet user with valuable health recommendations displayed on a special LCD screen together with test results and also available in paper format for free. It also proved to be an invaluable tool for real-time monitoring of epidemiologic situation throughout the whole country. If carriers of dangerous infections were detected with express tests the toilet emergency auto locking feature allowed to detain a person until the emergency medical team arrives to provide the necessary help. To counter cross-border spread of infectious diseases in cooperation with Immigration and Nationality directorate the Department of Health put forward an initiative according to which all entering the country were issued temporary Visitors Toilet ID cards at the expense of the state and biometric recording facilities were installed at each point of entry.
Immigration and Nationality directorate also developed it’s own programme based on existing facilities aimed at controlling the problem of illegal immigrants and have effective and measured immigration flow. The system not only greatly simplified the procedure of detention and subsequent deportation of illegal immigrants but also allowed to monitor the process of cross-border migration in great detail. Food Safety Agency soon followed the example as express test results allowed to monitor the quality of food eaten and interview the user right in the toilet about sources of food he or she consumes, which helped immensely on their clampdown on producers of substandard food and drinks. Environmental Agency took the opportunity to sort the material right at the place which eliminated the need for a rather costly excrement sorting procedure at the recycling plant.
Next there were various debt collecting agencies who established Digital Debt Collecting Association which was authorized by the government and most of other creditors to collect outstanding debts using the facility already present within the system. Each Toilet ID card is initially tied to a current account held in the State Bank which each citizen has from the age of 5. Initially it was designed to charge the entry fee direct from accounts of those not eligible for free entry. As this state was not permanent, all Toilet ID cards were linked to corresponding bank accounts by default. Quite soon other types of charges started to be processed through this extremely convenient system including particularly various types of fines. The ease of processing fines allowed replacing traditional long-term prison sentences with substantial fines for most economic crimes, petty theft and basically for the majority of crimes not involving bodily harm. Instead of locking people in the state decided not to deprive the economy of qualified labour force and not to damage the social fabric but rather use economic leverage to gain beneficial effects. As the amount of fines was often substantially larger than sums usually held on these accounts the government instituted so-called Liberty Loan automatically assigned for the period of 20 years equal to the outstanding remainder of a fine. These measures helped boosting the economy of the state as current Finance Minister proudly remarked
And finally of course the facility got attention of a number of Law Enforcement agencies. Some in the Drugs Control department of the Ministry of Internal affairs realised that the express urine test could also detect the presence of illegal substances and in cooperation with General Penitentiary Directorate introduced a programme of correctional detention for drug users. This used the emergency auto locking feature to lock in those in whose urine traces of illegal substances were detected and detain them for a period until their urine test comes clean. Combined with some anti-drug treatment supplied with drinking water and correctional messages and educational documentaries played all day long on the plasma screen it helped to significantly reduce the number of drug addicts throughout the country. The Chief of the General Penitentiary Directorate praised the success of the scheme in following terms:
Soon the idea of streamlined detention was extended to other petty criminals covering offences usually classed in Britain as Antisocial Behaviour and it proved to be very effective. Why you may ask? Why would a criminal ever enter this kind of facility knowing that he or she will be immediately locked up in there? There are two reasons for this and both are quite logical. Firstly the fine for leaving excrements in public place (which is for most citizens is anywhere outside their own private loo) is unbelievably high and surely there are moments when you just can’t hold it. Secondly and perhaps even more significantly the only alternative to being confined are various types of corporate punishment provided by law for these types of offences. If you had a choice, which would you prefer: getting forty or fifty lashes or spending a couple of weeks in a rather warm and comfortable hi-tech environment equipped with high-speed internet access and coming out clean afterwards? You guessed what I’d choose.
And of course it came only natural that a year later it was decided to abolish old-fashioned electric chairs used for the execution of capital punishment in favour of so-called Execution Plug-in which supplemented EcoTechLoos throughout the country. The advantage over traditional electric chair came from the fact that the executed did not actually need to sit on it as the lethal charge could pass along the stream of urine. There were concerns expressed over the reliability and safety of the system but they were quickly countered by a number of field tests. In words of the Interior Minister of the current government of the country:
It all went good until today, when a huge controversy potentially leading to international scandal emerged ignited by a punitive detention of a British national who allegedly violated the pornography laws of the country. Nick Green of West London, a biology student (name and address are changed for privacy reasons) who is visiting the country as a tourist this morning downloaded and watched a video clip from YouTube that graphically depicts the process of plant pollination while using the EcoTech Loo facility. As a result he was automatically sentenced to five plus two days of corrective detention starting this morning. Immediately after the emergency auto locking feature activated Nick Green started an active internet-based campaign in his defence. He contacted his lawyers in Britain and a number of non-governmental organisations defending the cause of Internet privacy including the well-known Privacy International. In his statement he insisted that he was unaware of the fact that watching graphical depiction of plant pollination that is classed under category of animal sex especially when insects are involved into the process, constitutes a criminal offence he also called the current pornography laws of the country " ridiculous and stupid " and called for international pressure to change the definition of pornography and even proposed a convention to define what constitutes a criminal offence in relation to pornographic images. Understandably, he suffered a great deal of shock as a result of his unexpected imprisonment so he could not control his initial reactions. He also protested against the additional two days sentence for the involvement of insects arguing that plants and animals belong to different species and hence it does not constitute a natural sexual act. I’m afraid this argument may only make the matters worse.
His lawyers in their statement took a different approach arguing that based on US v. Zeigler case Nick must have had a reasonable expectation of privacy when using the Internet from the EcoTech Loo facility also arguing that satisfying this type of natural needs is by definition a very private act and hence all actions associated with it are to be considered as private hence the evidence can not be admitted. The problem however is that the decision was made automatically according to legal algorithms programmed into the EcoTech Loo facility and there is no appeal procedure provided by law. This creates an interesting legal precedent as under international pressure the government of the country is already willing to release Nick Green from his detention, but the only way of doing it is through the procedure of pardoning but Nick Green is refusing to plead guilty at the stage which creates a kind of legal standstill which is only possible to overcome by changing the draconian laws of the country and that is a mammoth tack that can only be achieved by mounting constant international pressure on the government of the country.
I fully support Nick’s efforts in this direction and as a sign of protest I decided to place the video that caused his imprisonment here in my blog. Ironically, the video is narrated by David Atenborough who was once described within the country as "a known English pervert" and whose entry to the country is prohibited on the grounds that he allegedly sponsored "the largest series of animal pornography in history". On the same grounds BBC reporters are also banned from entering the country and reporting from there.
WARNING! Watching these videos may constitute a criminal offence in some parts of the world! Watch them at your own risk.
I also decided to supplement this video with more instances of the so-called plant pornography just to keep you entertained.
P.S. it might seem ridiculous when you first look at it but we all should perhaps use it as a lesson before introducing such dramatic technological changes into our society. The rapid penetration of new technology into our dense and fragile social fabric might sometimes lead to consequences completely unforeseen at the beginning. Let the tragic fate of Nick Green serve as a warning to our government too!
tags: privacy international
Posted by LZZR under Blog | Comments (1)
