With recent revelations about the government\u2019s widespread surveillance, including PRISM, and Google\u2019s disclosure that they don\u2019t respect individual privacy by routinely subjecting emails to \u201cautomated processing,\u201d one has to wonder where all of this is leading.<\/p>\n
Like George Orwell\u2019s classic 1984<\/em>, Big Brother is truly watching us:\u00a0 cameras at almost every street corner, reading emails, listening in on phone calls, and watching what we type into search engines.\u00a0 But at least we\u2019re safe in our private thoughts and memories, right?\u00a0 That may be about to change.<\/p>\n There is a technology called Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging<\/a> (fMRI) which can measure changes in localized brain activity by watching blood flow in the brain.\u00a0 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging differs from the standard MRI, commonly used in radiology to map brain structure, in that fMRI can detect correlations between brain activation and activities a subject performs or experiences.\u00a0 In addition, fMRI can also infer information about memory in an individual.<\/p>\n So what does this mean?\u00a0 It means that fMRI could tell if you\u2019re actually recalling a memory or not.\u00a0 It could also tell if you\u2019ve seen or experienced something.\u00a0 All well and good in theory, except that these could translate into whom you\u2019ve been associating with or talking to, or even whether or not you\u2019ve committed a crime based on interpretation. \u00a0Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging could be the ultimate lie detector by \u201creading\u201d your mind.<\/p>\n And the government is interested.\u00a0 Not only does it want into your emails and phone calls, it wants into your thoughts and memories as well.\u00a0 Since 9\/11, the government has been pouring millions of dollars into \u201cbrain-based\u201d lie detection technologies, including fMRI.\u00a0 Others are interested as well, including the military, law enforcement agencies, and even foreign governments.<\/p>\n Although fMRI is not yet readily accepted in courtrooms across the U.S., that may change.\u00a0 Many attorneys are pushing for its acceptance, and similar technologies are already in use in other countries.\u00a0 In India, for example, this type of technology was used to convict an individual and put them away for life<\/a>.<\/p>\n