this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2025
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It's almost like the privacy alarmists, who have been screaming for decades, were on to something.
Some people saw the beginning of Minority Report and thought, 'that sounds like a good idea.'
We used to be in a world where it was unfeasible to watch everyone, and you could get away with small 'crimes' like complaining about the president online because it was impossible to get a warrant for surveillance without any evidence. Now, we have systems like Flock^1^ cameras^2^, ChatGPT and others that generate alerts to law enforcement on their own, subverting a need for a warrant in the first place. And more and more frequently, you both can't opt out and are unable to avoid them.
For now, the crime might be driving a car with a license plate flagged as stolen (or one where OCR mistakes a number), but all it takes is a tiny nudge further towards fascism before you can be auto-SWATted because the sentiment of your draft sms is determined to be negative towards the fuhrer.
Even now, I'm sacrificing myself to warn people. This message is on the internet and federated to multiple instances. There's no way I can't be identified by it with enough resources. Once it's too late, I'll be already on the list of people to remove.
I remember watching a video from the early 2000s that had a nightmare privacy scenario of someone trying to order a pizza, but then that person said nothing other than what they wanted and the people already knew his address, his job history, his health records and said that due to his latest health checkups if he wanted his double meat pizza they would need to pay additional, otherwise they would have to go with their health recommended vege pizza.
The video was made at a time when smart phones were a rarity and most people ordered food the old fashioned way... they called the place by phone, told them what they wanted and where they were , and paid for when it arrived in cash, since portable credit card readers were very uncommon.
Now we ARE in that situation, except for syncing medical records so that any company can use it. But we are going to get there soon enough, and it will be 'for the children, you pedo! Also if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear!' Bullshit that for some reason everyone believes and will never question... even if they caught up in the system themselves for some bullshit reason they will never, ever connect the dots.
Full agree. It's scary. These companies have collected enough data on us all -- sometimes (often?) through things we didn't directly use and thus didn't need to accept any T&C for, such as surveillance cameras in a business or public street -- that they can predict our actions, moods, and make inferences about our lives.
They have been doing this for YEARS, and they are constantly getting better. They don't even need health data, but I can guarantee they want it. I remember noticing that we had a phase where my wife was being advertised baby products on her streaming service. We were not having another child, but the timing was eerily close to the interval between #1 and #2. I actually just had a hesitation about divulging that I have 2 kids, but then said fuck it, they already know.
Add to all that the 'for the children' angle, which I've always hated. It's such a transparent lie that anyone with a lick of common sense can see through it. For anyone even on the fence, this is the foot in the door: Allow them the ability to track you 'for the children' and they will track you for the corporation as well, and the government, and your ex-boyfriend who is now a cop.
Fight this shit.