Piteå – A small town against Luleå

SJS Thinktank reporter Sam Lahham last discussed the merit of Luleå’s ambitions to become a fully integrated RFID city. As the project director claimed that the city would go “full steam ahead” and worry about the concerns of privacy later. One has to wonder if the Swedish people were so permissive within a laissez-faire culture, that most of it’s citizens would not mind being tracked, mapped and located. Although the program is an opt in program, the prevailing attitude seems to the benefits of being a first mover into the market will outweigh the public surprise of how much big brother will truly be watching them.

When we reached the town of Piteå, we asked some of the townsfolk about their opinion of being part of a town experimenting with RFID. The responses were passionate and fierce. “The people of Luleå just think differently than most of us. They think they are better and need to teach us how to live.” said Emelie Andersson. “Luleå is pretentious, and think they are leaders not just of Sweden, but the world. They would gladly be cattle for RFID experiment.” said Tomas Öhlund. When we asked if they would be opposed to partaking in a similar project in Piteå, they said they would have to announce it first to the town and get a general agreement of most of the citizens. The patrons at Challenges Sports Bar also sounded off on the matter. “It sounds cool to be able to tell your friends where you are, what you’re eating and what you think. But where does it end. Sounds more like a marketers way to watch your every move.”, said Lars Persson.

More to come from the SJS Thinktank