Everyone is always watched.
Jan. 4th, 2019 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
markschuldenfreiI've been re-thinking the current computer revolution, and it's reminding me a lot of Future Shock. (Technically, the third book in the series, Powershift.)
Don't think of our world as being filled with smart machines. Think of our world as being filled with thousands and thousands of sensors, and those sensors are measuring the most valuable thing in the economical sphere - us.
The most sensor-filled and therefore the most valuable information-gathering device out there has to be a smart phone.
But our credit card records, our cars travel and behaviors, the door keys and smart thermostats are all collecting lots of information about us. And most of that information is aggregated or purchased by the very biggest info-companies: Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon - and littler players like LinkedIn/Microsoft and others.
We are the most measured and tracked people in existence. And that is in relevant part because virtually all of the information collected from sensors is not anonymous - even when it could be. It's correlated with your identity.
The Future Shock (Powershift) part of the devil's bargain is this - a very small portion of our personal information is "traded back to us" for our convenience. Your thermostat may watch you, but your bills are lower. Your phone tracks your movements down to the aisle in the store, but it gives you some useful information. (Or pictures of cats.)
The Tofflers were remarkably prescient about how this information disparity might come about or be used. But what's needed now is for people to become very much aware of how exploited they are, how much information is collected about them, that there is a burgeoning trade in this information, and that very little of it is used for your personal benefit.
The world is filled with connected sensors. They know a lot about you, and therefore so do others. It's hard to determine if this is good for you or not, because there is no realistic way of knowing what's collected, traded or how it is used.
We are the most watched people in history.
Don't think of our world as being filled with smart machines. Think of our world as being filled with thousands and thousands of sensors, and those sensors are measuring the most valuable thing in the economical sphere - us.
The most sensor-filled and therefore the most valuable information-gathering device out there has to be a smart phone.
But our credit card records, our cars travel and behaviors, the door keys and smart thermostats are all collecting lots of information about us. And most of that information is aggregated or purchased by the very biggest info-companies: Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon - and littler players like LinkedIn/Microsoft and others.
We are the most measured and tracked people in existence. And that is in relevant part because virtually all of the information collected from sensors is not anonymous - even when it could be. It's correlated with your identity.
The Future Shock (Powershift) part of the devil's bargain is this - a very small portion of our personal information is "traded back to us" for our convenience. Your thermostat may watch you, but your bills are lower. Your phone tracks your movements down to the aisle in the store, but it gives you some useful information. (Or pictures of cats.)
The Tofflers were remarkably prescient about how this information disparity might come about or be used. But what's needed now is for people to become very much aware of how exploited they are, how much information is collected about them, that there is a burgeoning trade in this information, and that very little of it is used for your personal benefit.
The world is filled with connected sensors. They know a lot about you, and therefore so do others. It's hard to determine if this is good for you or not, because there is no realistic way of knowing what's collected, traded or how it is used.
We are the most watched people in history.
