8/15/2023 0 Comments The world after covidIf you know, for example, that I clicked on a Fox News link rather than a CNN link, that can teach you something about my political views and perhaps even my personality. The downside is, of course, that this would give legitimacy to a terrifying new surveillance system. Such a system could arguably stop the epidemic in its tracks within days. The chains of infection could be drastically shortened, and even cut altogether. The algorithms will know that you are sick even before you know it, and they will also know where you have been, and who you have met. The resulting data is hoarded and analysed by government algorithms. As a thought experiment, consider a hypothetical government that demands that every citizen wears a biometric bracelet that monitors body temperature and heart-rate 24 hours a day. Surveillance technology is developing at breakneck speed, and what seemed science-fiction 10 years ago is today old news. One of the problems we face in working out where we stand on surveillance is that none of us know exactly how we are being surveilled, and what the coming years might bring. Now the government wants to know the temperature of your finger and the blood-pressure under its skin. But with coronavirus, the focus of interest shifts. Hitherto, when your finger touched the screen of your smartphone and clicked on a link, the government wanted to know what exactly your finger was clicking on. Not only because it might normalise the deployment of mass surveillance tools in countries that have so far rejected them, but even more so because it signifies a dramatic transition from “over the skin” to “under the skin” surveillance. Yet if we are not careful, the epidemic might nevertheless mark an important watershed in the history of surveillance. In recent years both governments and corporations have been using ever more sophisticated technologies to track, monitor and manipulate people. You might argue that there is nothing new about all this. What happens when everybody works from home and communicates only at a distance? What happens when entire schools and universities go online? In normal times, governments, businesses and educational boards would never agree to conduct such experiments. Entire countries serve as guinea-pigs in large-scale social experiments. Immature and even dangerous technologies are pressed into service, because the risks of doing nothing are bigger. Decisions that in normal times could take years of deliberation are passed in a matter of hours. Many short-term emergency measures will become a fixture of life. Yes, the storm will pass, humankind will survive, most of us will still be alive - but we will inhabit a different world. When choosing between alternatives, we should ask ourselves not only how to overcome the immediate threat, but also what kind of world we will inhabit once the storm passes. We should also take into account the long-term consequences of our actions. They will shape not just our healthcare systems but also our economy, politics and culture. We must act quickly and decisively. The decisions people and governments take in the next few weeks will probably shape the world for years to come. Perhaps the biggest crisis of our generation.
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