The coming age of nanosensors

Filed in archive Society & Ethics on September 11, 2006

Earth & Sky radio series has a new piece on how "Nanotech sensors raise privacy issues," featuring Christine Peterson, Vice President for Public Policy at the Foresight Nanotech Institute (formerly known as the Foresight Institute.)

As her hosts say, "She told us that nanotechnology - the science of the invisibly small - will ultimately let scientists develop devices for sensing just about any chemical substance imaginable. And that'll create privacy issues."

One privacy scenario Peterson envisions:

"One can imagine perhaps - I'm speculating - that eventually federal education funding might be dependent on the deployment of these sensors in the classroom. So, if there's any students present who perhaps have been indulging [in illegal drugs] the night before, alarms would ring, class would come to a halt, and those students might get in trouble."

Check out this month's issue of Nano & Society from the Center on Nanotechnology & Society if you want to learn more. I have an article there entitled, "The New Era of Nanosensors". It's not out yet, but here's a sneak preview:

"Nanotechnology is ushering in a new era of 'ubiquitous sensing,' as every day more and more nanosensors are introduced into our environment. In the not-too-distant future, these nanosensors will collect and transmit vast amounts of information about the environment and its users. This ubiquitous sensing is likely to bring a host of benefits, from customized temperature settings in buildings to personalized shopping and health monitoring. But it will also raise a number of social and ethical issues. Who, for instance, will control these sensors? What information will they gather? And how will it be used?"

(photo Pam Roth)