Data are also being collected on our behalf or about us for no
apparent reason other than because the technology enables
it – our digital shadows, if you like. Personal video recorders
(PVRs) record TV programmes chosen by the viewer but
also automatically store them based on the viewer’s viewing
profile or other criteria. Similarly, new devices are beginning to
appear, such as SenseCam (see ‘A Digital Life’, below), that can
automatically capture all kinds of traces of everyday life, in the
form of images, video, conversations and sounds. The same
is true for GPS devices which now appear in cars, in mobile