I heard about this story after seeing Cory Doctorow speak at Berkeley. I hate the idea of a two tier system like this, and I understand why the building owners would think it’s a good idea, but it goes against the spirit of section 8 and the rent-control regulations in big cities. To a much lesser degree I live this situation, as I am a near-market rate tenant in a really old building in San Francisco. Every once in a while, one of my neighbors asks me to email our landlord, to ask him to fix small issues that he’d ignore if they came from someone who’s been living here for decades, and who pays a fraction of what I pay.
A frightening article. This data is being collected in so many different places, by so many decentralized players that it is impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.