The future through the eyes of the paranoid: the flip side of the digital era coin

Topics about new items, such as Google Glass, or, for example, as in the topic of electronic tattoos, which the Good Corporation is working on, are constantly published on Habré. Actually, I registered on Habré in order to leave a comment in the topic on the link. But, read-only - it’s such a read-only ...
So, a few words in support of those who are offered a “foil hat”. But, for starters, in order not to produce unnecessary questions, a little about yourself. I am a little paranoid. Not to the extent that he is wearing the cap, but yes, he’s paranoid. And, right away I say, I do not read the yellow press and do not watch telly. In this topic I will try to be realistic, to look at the situation objectively, taking into account my experience and some life situations.

First about Google Glass. In the topic of banning a person who recognizes Google software, many are outraged by such a policy of the Good Corporation. Someone cannot remember the name of friends / employees, someone simply claims that face recognition is progress, and, accordingly, Google with its “disapproval” slows down this progress. Someone argues that this is all temporary, and when the glasses go to the masses and become popular, the ban will be lifted.

Lyrical digression. Not so long ago, I and my friends rested in nature. In principle, we rested culturally, but one of our comrades framed us a little. Although he did not do anything very reprehensible. As a result, we had a not very pleasant conversation with the owner passing by (the tenant, most likely) of the land on which we rested. Given the fact that he drove a car with difficult numbers, this person could well cause us trouble. He talked rather impudently, hinting at problems ... He even photographed us and our car on an iPhone (I hid my face under a visor cap when I was photographing).

For those who begin to talk about what they themselves are to blame and “it was not necessary to break the riots”, it is quite possible to draw a different situation. You drive a car, do not touch anyone. Suddenly, someone on a very cool car cuts you - a small accident. Or they just didn’t let someone in, although they didn’t break the rules. How many majors and those who think that they are allowed everything go on the roads?

Now let’s imagine that the “owner of factories, lands, ships” passing by had the same glasses with facial recognition. And, that I have in the public domain in social networks a complete set of personal information - photos, full name, phone, place of study, place of work, maybe home address. Few people who post such information on the web? And so, the opponent, just looking at me, immediately finds out that my name is Pupkin Vasily Ivanovich, I live in the city of X at 125 Stroiteley Street, apartment 125, I’m meeting with Elena Ivanova, etc. In general, complete information about who I am, where I come from, what I do. Now let’s imagine that we still had a conflict, and not a “pre-conflict situation”, as I called that case for myself. Yes, there were more of us. He would not take any action on the spot. But then what? He knows everything about me. Should I wait until the “athletic guys” ring the doorbell at night? Or will the same guys wait for me at the entrance? Or will that comrade, if he has a certain influence, give me problems at work? Or ... I think that for everyone living in the CIS, such a development of events will not seem fantastic.
Or, let's imagine that you are not completely satisfied with the situation in your country. So dissatisfied that they decided to go out to some protest rally. Let it be peaceful and permitted. And imagine that law enforcement also has Google with the same software, and you still have the same set of information on the social network (or at least a sufficient set of information for identification). After the protest rally on the “high table” lies the complete list of all participants. If the authorities in the country cannot boast of democracy, then the command “Fas!” May well be distributed. And you, as a participant, an unreliable person, fully feel all the charms - problems at work / study, visits of law enforcement (up to detention), pressure from the tax and other regulatory authorities, if you are an entrepreneur ... Continue the list? Or does this scenario also seem fantastic to someone in our realities?

By the way, the last scenario is relevant not only for Google Glass, but also if you have a smartphone with GPS turned on, set up for an account on some social network, which, well-intentioned, will show directly on the map where you are in the moment you are. It would not be difficult for the competent authorities to gather information.

Well, and since we were talking mainly about face recognition, there is one, last, situation on this topic. Let's say you met a girl. Take a walk with her. Only the girl already has a husband / boyfriend with whom "everything is complicated." Or do you have a wife / girlfriend. We will not discuss the moral side of the issue. Here you are walking, or sitting in a restaurant, or something else. Someone photographs someone against the background of something, and you get into the frame. The photo enters the social network, which recognizes faces and kindly sends out to everyone it recognized and their friends. With the note "Vasya Pupkin was spotted ..." / "Lena Ivanova was spotted ...". Or the girl herself took a picture with you on a smartphone that automatically posted the photo to the social network. Someone doubts that even if the photo doesn’t come directly to the account of a guy / husband or girl / wife, there will be good-humor, who will immediately tell them everything? Does anyone want to be in this situation?

NB: I don’t know if such a service is real right now, because I don’t use social networks, but, taking into account the tendencies of “socialization”, it is quite real in the very near future. After all, there was not so long ago an application for dating (the name, unfortunately, I do not remember), which showed who is within a certain radius of the smartphone (with a photo, a page on the social network, interests and other information).

And now we are exacerbating. Above, I wrote only about maintaining privacy. Electronic tattoos, chipping, which, judging by some comments, some “wait, will not wait,” and other cyberpunk charms, enter the stage. Imagine that such things completely replaced the passport and other documents, bank cards, and also show your location and so on. I will not consider the option that they are shocking if an unreliable thought has occurred to me.

Lyrical digression again. This may cause a certain reaction here, but I do not trust the banks. I remember too well 2008, when banks fell. I remember the line of 100+ people at the door of the bank, which I pass by when I go to work. I remember how I wrote letters to the bank for 3 months so that it would return my deposit. I had every right to do so under the contract and the law. But the National Bank of Ukraine for some reason decided that its by-laws are higher than the law, and that it has the right to manage my money. Therefore, I do not use bank cards and generally try to stay away from banks. The longer I observe what is happening, the more I become convinced that if you have no real money in your pocket, then we can assume that you have no money at all. It's my right to decide how to keep my money.

And then electronic tattoos, chips and more come onto the scene. As someone predicts, they will replace everything. What do we get in the end?

If for money, then your account may be blocked at any moment. Let it be convenient to use such a tattoo / chip. Let the state save on the production of cash. Let them not be able to pull out your wallet on the street. Let paper money be used unhygienically - you never know who held it in your hands before you. But ... Well, you seem to have a certain amount in the account, but, as if by magic, you either have zero, or you cannot use your money. Causes? But you never know! In our country (I suspect that in other CIS countries too) everything is possible! How many situations when people “squeeze” apartments and other property out of the blue? And if an entrepreneur is trying to take away a business? Someone drew a lawsuit against you for some reason, and demanded, as a security for the claim, an arrest. All, even bread cannot be bought! Or, again, you are on the list of unreliable people and the state is putting such pressure on you ... This is not politics - I’m just trying to objectively, based on today's realities, draw a plausible situation.

Again, a situation with a system failure cannot be ruled out. After all, the more complex the system, the more unreliable it is. Some especially gifted person caught something in the system, and all the data about your money disappeared. Or, even worse, you yourself have disappeared. In the comments to the topic about electronic tattoos, in my opinion, this slipped. Think for yourself - because if you do not have a document (there is no record in the database when everything becomes electronic), then legally you do not exist. You do not have money, you lose the right to property, you legally lose your wife and the right to raise your own children ... Because you simply do not exist for the state! Unrealistic situation? Even now, when everything is on paper, there are cases when fraudsters issue a fake death certificate. For what? Then comes a second cousin’s great-nephew, who claims the right to inheritance, a court decision is made about his right to a part, for example, an apartment, this part is resold several times ... And so on, until the apartment is completely transferred to the ownership of it is not clear to whom. Imagine all this can be done with a simple change in the database.

Among other "charms" of electronic tattoos and chips, you can find a lot more. If the tattoo / chip will also transmit information about the location of the carrier, then the BB will always know where you are. As, in my opinion, the bash was - “GLONASS is not for you to know where your homeland is, but for your homeland to know where you are.” Again - protests and more. Or, for example, law enforcement officers can find out by the logs who was near the crime scene at the time of its commission. And if you were nearby? Our police - she is like that. Conscience is enough to hang the case on anyone, just to show disclosure. And if for some reason you need to hide?
I believe that the advent of such a digital era will turn people into such hamsters. There will be new levers of pressure on the person, which will be used by the state and all sorts of dark personalities. All this is against the backdrop of the collapse of democracy. After all, why democracy, if a person can already be completely controlled? Already now there is a situation when, despite all the guarantees of privacy, providers, social networks, mail, etc. are obliged to provide (and provide) data and personal information of users to special services even in the most, it seems, democratic countries. That is, we already do not have any private life on the network. It remains to allow a little more. Give the authorities complete control over themselves, over their actions, over their money, over their property ... Who will protest against the government, if she can deprive him of everything at any moment? Even if this power is not like. Even if you do not like it much. Even if the government decides to shoot for an imprudent forum post, insulting the next "Great Helmsman", or punish for insulting the feelings of believers, criticizing the slowest mail in the world, etc. You will come out to protest against the authorities, knowing that a couple of clicks will legally erase you from life?

The point here is not “foil caps,” not masons and other conspiracy theories. The fact is that, with the development of such technologies, total control over a person is established. That a person will simply have nowhere to hide from the BB - neither in the network, nor in real life. Someone will say that "do not break the law, and live in peace." But the laws are different. What laws will the government come up with if it knows that every person in the territory subject to it is completely controlled? I see that people will just be locked in a kind of digital cage. A man, like a hamster, will be happy, well-fed and warm, until he wants to get out of the cage. While completely obedient to the owner. And if not - the value of the hamster is not great. It can always be replaced with a new hamster. True, there are valuable hamsters - they can be allowed a little more. But, for the most part ... Personally, I don’t want to become a hamster for the sake of so that the glasses immediately give me the name of the person I’m looking at, instead of writing his name in a notebook in the worst case, in order to pay for the purchase with a chip, and not count the cash at the checkout. Nobody argues that all this is very convenient. But what price do you have to pay? Is this comfort worth losing?

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