The Future of Privacy and the "Universalization of the Panopticon"

David Brin argues that privacy will no longer exist. What's interesting is that he insists this is actually a good thing. As an alternative to privacy, Brin offers universal absence of privacy — in other words,

a transparent society.
The police watch you, but someone watches the police. Everyone has access to a nationwide video camera system, so perhaps with a small wireless device and a click on the right web page, anyone could see

everything happening in every public place. Parents can watch their children and children can watch their parents. Spouses can watch each other, employees can watch employers and employers can watch employees,

and journalists can watch the police and politicians. (p. 95)

 

"A world where privacy has effectively disappeared." It's not far from what I wrote about the other day from "Always On," a book on the future of the always-connected society. The Wired columnist who wrote "Always On" said, "Perhaps we are already getting used to handing over privacy, control, and a bit of freedom in exchange for the benefits of being always connected," but this author goes one step further.

He talks about a scenario with cheap video cameras the size of mosquitoes, with mosquito-like aerodynamics. Once anyone has a few dozen of these, they can collect vast amounts of information about other people. He says it's a matter of 10 or 20 years out, but as the author points out, we may already be living in a world of crime-prevention cameras mounted on every streetlight.

"Put all these technologies together and you end up in a world where, in real life, your identity is entirely exposed, everything about you is known, and anyone can access that information easily and at any time." (p. 14)

 

The author concludes that we will end up in a society without privacy. And he quotes science-fiction writer David Brin, who argues the best solution is not protecting personal information but universalizing transparency. A world where everyone can see everyone. A world where the police watch me, but at the same time someone else watches the police. How does that feel? In truth, the author's overall view of the future leans dark rather than bright. Either way, he says we're living in an "uncertain world."

Watching how rapidly technology keeps accelerating, I try to picture the future 10 or 20 years from now.