Studio guest: Prof. Sarah Spiekermann, Humboldt University Berlin

"The question is of course to what extent we actually really enjoy handling our everyday life and to what extent we actually don't want to give it up."

DW-TV: With us here in the studio now is Sarah Spiekermann, from Berlin's Humboldt University. She's an expert in the field of network technology. What happens if there's a crash?


Sarah Spiekermann: "Well that's exactly the question: who is liable if there is a crash. So that's currently debated on a legal level as well. And the question is of course how people can handle crashes: will they need to be much better educated in terms of technology? What interfaces do they have at their disposition to actually handle the situation? There are myriad questions that are unanswered for now. And that's why all over Europe and also in Asia and the US there are research projects ongoing that would answer this kind of question."


DW-TV: "Let's talk a little bit about RFID Chips - they'e already in use in a lot of sectors, expecially logistics. And the idea - using the example of groceries - is to get the local supermarket know when you're out of milk, and speed up things at the cash register. And the identification chips are also found in the latest German passports to help prevent illegal fakes. But how transparent is this technology making us in terms of data privacy? Who has access to this data?"


Sarah Spiekermann: "It really depends how the technology will be designed. When the RFID tech products come out of logistics and go to the retail environment and are then handed onto consumers. The question is what happens to these tags? As a result right now there are debates that the tags should be killed or switched off at the store exit. At that point there would be much less of a privacy issue."


DW-TV: "What are the benefits and the downsides of such a complete regulation of our personal lives?"


Sarah Spiekermann: "I think what technicians aspire for, or what the vision is, is that we have less transaction costs in everyday life. Or that there are minorities or elderly people where we can offer services that can facilitate our everday life, like shopping with the smart refrigerator. The question is of course to what extent we actually really enjoy handling our everyday life and to what extent we actually don't want to give it up."


DW-TV: "A final question: where on earth are we going to store all of this data?"+++


Sarah Spiekermann: "Well storage is an increasing problem because we have such huge data volumes that storage technology needs to proceed and progress. However there is a lot of effort being done, storage capacities and large data warehouses being built. Even to the extent that companies are thinking about building data centers in the sea."


Interview: Heather DeLisle