https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-10/welcome-to-the-age-of-surveillance-capitalismby Noah Smith
June 10, 2019
In 1998, science fiction author David Brin published a remarkably prescient book of nonfiction, titled “The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us To Choose Between Privacy And Freedom?†The book predicted that information technology would lead to the death of privacy, and explored some of the potential good and bad effects of the change.
One of Brin’s predictions was that citizens would be able to expose the secrets of the powerful -- a concept called “sousveillance.†That prediction seems to have come true. In just the past few years, mobile phone cameras have captured police brutality and other government misdeeds, social media has exposed famous figures as sexual harassers and so on.
Sousveillance might seem as if it’s leveling the social playing field. But the rich and powerful aren’t the only ones who have valuable secrets. However powerful crowds with cameras might be, big organizations like governments and corporations have at their disposal many more resources, better technology and more invasive, diabolical planning than the average person. And we’re just starting to discover what happens when those mighty forces put citizens and consumers into a panopticon.
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