This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, January 7th, 2013.

I'm Caleb Brown.

When we debate our rights and expectations of privacy,

we generally don't have a shared understanding.

And into that void comes the creepy... we generally don't have a shared understanding.

And into that void comes the creepy factor, where reason is replaced by repugnance at the idea

of being tracked by both the private sector and the public sector.

Jim Harper, Director of Information Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, comments.

What is missing from our debate about privacy?

Well, the privacy debate is dominated by, I suppose you'd call it the creepy factor.

That is people getting creeped out about technology but not actually taking time

or care to examine what they worry about.

So we have over and over again bills introduced in Congress,

state legislatures, and worldwide,

trying to address the creepy factor

without actually getting to what the problem is or

getting to what the solution is. The New York Times here talks about the many ways

in which we are tracked, easy passes, clock the routes we drive, metro passes,

register the subway stations we enter, ATMs record

where and when we get cash. Not to mention the credit and debit card transactions that

map our trajectories in comprehensive detail, the stores, restaurants, and gas stations

we frequent, the hotels and health clubs we patronize.

...