We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Coming to a bin near you, the spy that tells how much rubbish you create

The Guardian reports:

Residents of Croydon, south London, have been told that the microchips being inserted into their new wheely bins may well be adapted so that the council can judge whether they are producing too much rubbish.

If the technology suggests that they are, errant residents may be visited by officials bearing advice on how they might “manage their rubbish more effectively”.

In the shorter term the microchips will be used to tell council officers how many of the borough’s 100,000 bins the refuse collectors have emptied and how many have been missed.

Andrew Pelling, the Conservative who represents the area on the London assembly has tagged the microchips the “spy in your bin”:

The Stasi or the KGB could never have dreamed of getting a spying device in every household.

If, for example, computer hackers broke in to the system, they could see sudden reductions in waste in specific households, suggesting the owners were on holiday and the house vacant.

But a spokesman for Croydon council said the fears were unjustified.

What we don’t want is people putting into their wheely bins tins and glass and paper and textiles, all of which could go into recycling bins. It is the way forward for waste management. We are not the only council thinking about it.

So, the council, does not want people to do something that it has imposed on them, such as recycling. Well, some people do not feel like doing it and they should have the choice. Just because the council/government/anybody considers that x is good, they have no right to impose that on others. This is social totalitarianism and the sad thing is that so few see it for what it is.

2 comments to Coming to a bin near you, the spy that tells how much rubbish you create

  • Who really cares whether their council knows the quantity of rubbish they throw out? Content maybe but quantity? I won’t claim that I recycle as much as I should but since when has being irresponsible about the amount of rubbish you produce is a fundamental freedom?

    At the moment the government is about to abolish habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is fundamental pillar of freedom. Don’t we need to prioritize just a little

    Daivid

  • Reducing the amount of rubbish we buy will reduce the amount of rubbish we throw out; less packaging!