Tag: Panopticon

Welcome to the Panopticon – [Article]

Charlie Stross welcomes you to it:

Don’t jaywalk, chew gum in public, smoke, exceed the speed limit, stand in front of fire exit routes, or wear clothing that violates the city dress code (passed on the nod in 1892, and never repealed because everybody knew nobody would enforce it and it would take up valuable legislative time). You won’t be able to watch those old DVD’s of ‘Friends’ you copied during the naughty oughties because if you stick them in your player it’ll call the copyright police on you. You’d better not spend too much time at the bar, or your insurance premiums will rocket and your boss might ask you to undergo therapy. You might be able to read a library book or play a round of a computer game, but your computer will be counting the words you read and monitoring your pulse so that it can bill you for the excitement it has delivered.

And don’t think you can escape by going and living in a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. It is in the nature of every police state that the most heinous offense of all is attempting to escape from it. And after all, if you’re innocent, why are you trying to hide?

The life of a royal born in the Internet Era [Article]

Charlie Stross writes science fiction – and explains the future that awaits the most recent addition to the UK’s royal family.

What is it going to be like to be the heir to the throne, aged ten and starting at a public school (that is, a very high-end private school) in 2023?

The participating Panopticon: The Internet of Things [Article]

Technology is the solution to the world’s problems, say many. Blind belief in technology may be our generation’s downfall, considering that we are blind to rest of the world’s beauty & its own coping mechanisms. Don’t get me wrong, I love this connected world. Bruce Schneier, writing in the Guardian, points out, Will giving the internet eyes and ears mean the end of privacy?.

The usual response to privacy is “Why worry if you’ve got nothing to hide?”. Here’s a few reasons

 Privacy involves the responsibility on the part of those who collect and use your data to keep it secure in order to prevent fraud and identity theft. We don’t say to an identity theft victim “don’t worry if you have nothing to hide.”