So how is this?
We are living in a unique time today that will not last long, we are on the edge of a cusp for a new age of surveillance. So what do I mean by this? Bruce Schneier gave a compelling picture of the future -at LSE earlier this week- he started with today, one where we know that there are cameras everywhere and that we can see them, are aware of them! However…..
– In 5 years time they will be so small that they will still be everywhere but out of our sight.
– We will probably be unaware of ID checks being made on us.
– We will get location-specific advertising, e.g. walk past Starbucks and see a personalized advert.
What is more, we will start to accept this. Maybe even agree to keeping a ‘life recorder‘ in our lapel for a small reward at the beginning. It could be later that it becomes the norm, after all it provides us with an alibi if we happen to be implicated in a crime in some way. It could be that by not wearing a ‘life recorder‘ is an indication of our guilt because we ‘have something to hide‘!
For myself, and I expect anyone reading this would find this vision for the future somewhat disturbing, but unfortunately any research that I have done concerning consumer habits and acceptance for the sharing of personal information for some small reward -e.g. 5cents discount on a chocolate bar- it is not such science fiction given the advances in surveillance technology today and expectations for the future.