It seems to your humble moderator that this kind of computer technology comes under the category of “Big Brother.” It’s easy to say that this kind of thing will be used for productivity gains, but it’s waaaay too easy to corrupt something like this into an all around spy tool that can be put to used by any group from private industry to government to military.

From the Register, UK:

It gives a whole new meaning to the word “micromanager.”

Judging from a recent patent application, Microsoft hopes to build some sort of “activity monitoring system” that keeps an eye on worker productivity using various “physiological or environmental sensors.” These sensors would track everything from heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, facial expressions, and blood pressure to brain signals and galvanic skin response.

Yes, galvanic skin response is what drives a lie detector.

Redmond sees this system as a way for companies and, um, governments to monitor “group activities.” “In particular, the system can monitor user activity, detect when users need assistance with their specific activities, and identify at least one other user that can assist them,” the patent application reads, in classic patent speak. “Assistance can be in the form of answering questions, providing guidance to the user as the user completes the activity, or completing the activity such as in the case of taking on an assigned activity.”

In other words: If you don’t do your duty, the system will make sure your duties are assigned to someone else.

The system is designed to provide its unique brand of “assistance” as workers slave away on various computing devices, including desktops, laptops, and cell phones. But it doesn’t just track your physical use of such devices. It also monitors things like “frustration and stress.”

Imagine the ways that something like this can be abused and it can gives your humble moderator nightmares. Of all the technologies in the scitech realm, perhaps computer technology is the easiest to corrupt. Keep in mind that the data that these systems can collect is sent to backup logs and can be used to put together “productivity” profiles over years.

EASILY corruptible! *shiver*