Why hasn't the World of Always On arrived?

The ingredients are all here, and they're cheap-as-chips: (An example is this nifty little camera, from yoursecurity.us.)

• Wireless networks. You can buy an 802.11 wireless gateway for $65.
  
• PCs to run the applications are down well below $250.
  
• RFID kits? Cameras? Sensors? All available.
  
• Long battery life? Thanks to Zigbee, that's a big check mark, too.
  

I'm convinced the hurdles facing Always On applications aren't technical, and aren't artifacts of the market.

They're political.

Let's run them down, shall we?

1. The first problem is the lack of strong privacy laws. People don't trust existing RFID applications over privacy fears. These fears are not unfounded. We need strong laws mandating the protection of personal data, limits on its distribution, and consumer transparency. We also need to treat the people and companies who lose data as severely as those who steal it.
2. Another big problem is HIPAA. Some 70% of the nation's medical offices are refusing computers because they're afraid of it. We need reform that will simplify the requirements, allow open patient-doctor communication, and at the same time mandate physician compliance. This is preventing medical applications of Always On from entering distribution.
3. Mainly I think we need a Bill of Rights for Data. This needs to be simple enough for anyone to understand. The data you create belongs to you. No one can pass around consumer dossiers without your express written consent.

The fact is that Always On applications will create a ton of data out of your daily life. RFID inventory applications will create a record of everything in your home. RFID security applications will put everyone in your house under constant surveillance. Always On medical applications will find out what's wrong with you, before you know it's wrong.

Unless consumer rights to this data are paramount in our law, unless there are ironclad guarantees that the data you create is yours, people just won't create it. They'll continue dying young of heart attacks rather than monitor themselves. They'll continue to waste energy, water, and live in dirty air rather than create the data needed to change things. They'll risk death rather than have cameras in their homes.

These are not market problems. These are not technical problems.

These are political problems. And until we have politicians with the courage and foresight to stand for consumers in these areas, consumers will remain outside the Always On loop.