QR Codes: Not Just for Groceries Anymore

Today we track bees to see how long an individual worker leaves the hive, but what will tomorrow bring?

The concept is interesting. Attach teeny tiny QR codes to the backs of the bees and a camera at the hive entrance, then calculate the exit time against the re-entry time. Bam. We realize how long that bee spends outside the hive doing its thing.

I started to think about humans and realized we can be even more traceable.

Everyone with a smart phone is tracked constantly. When we use GPS apps, we are literally telling the app where we go and enabling pattern recognition. If this is the route you take every morning, why not show ads for businesses along this route? Cookies are shared across different applications and a driving pattern might appear in your social media app’s ads.

Insurance companies offer discounts if you allow them to “watch” you drive so they can determine if you are a safe driver or offer suggestions for improvement. While this is happening, your location is likely captured as well.

Don’t take your phone into the car with you? Stoplight cameras at many intersections are taking pictures of your license plate.

Public cameras are all over sharing views of crowds and facial recognition software is a very real thing. Even doorbell cameras could be used to see who might be passing by.

And if you circumvent all of those, the second you use your credit card everyone knows where you were at that time.

What do you think about humans being tracked when leaving and returning to our “hives”? Please comment below.