Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
The point is, people will willingly put up with surveillance and monitoring, if they see it as convenient to do so. Your last question is a lot harder, of course...
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Steve, I think you are missing my point somewhat. You believe that somehow there is, predominantly, a conscious choice being made to access this convenience by consumers, and you use the word 'willingy'. Furthermore, this choice comes with a price, 'surveillance and monitoring', which we should accept because it is a price we have to pay to make us safer.
I, in my cynical way, do not believe that choice or willingness is a factor. Most people are stuck with what they've got because of all sorts of social, physical and economic factors. Try living with a disability in a poor neighbourhood on a small pension and see how many choices you have.The only people who have, relatively, any real choices are those with that degree of economic independence which allows them to make those choices. Even they are slowy finding that they have very little in the way of surveillance-free movement and access to any of those necessities and luxuries they wish to purchase.
Moreover, surveillance and monitoring are fine ideas if they are only being used for 'security' purposes. What happens when they are used for social control and control of freedom of expression? What about all the data being collected from you, and me, from all of this surveillance and monitoring? Surveillance and monitoring becomes a vast data stream, out of your, or my, personal control. It is used, without our knowledge, by governments and business without our veto or say-so.
There have been several high profile cases in the UK recently where the data [of various levels of sensitivity] from millions of people has been mislaid [and those are just the cases published]. Perhaps you would like to wake-up one day and find that your 'identity' has been stolen, or you have been wrongly catagorized as a troublemaker or terrorist, or you have been refused healthcare because this data stream is 'faulty' through mischief, incompetence or criminality.
It's not just about surveillance and monitoring. In the end it's about the control of 'our' personal data and the lack thereof for you and me.
Tommy