Techno Dystopia Premise

By Carl Slaughter: There is a creepy paragraph in the July issue of Wired that has frightening implications. Here are various scenarios. Techno dystopia science fiction premise. Any writers up the task?

“Every technological move toward privacy will be answered with a legal one aimed at shifting the equilibrium back toward surveillance: If law enforcement continues to be foiled by uncrackable encryption, it will come back with an order for “technical assistance,” demanding companies weaken their security measures and rewrite their code to help the cops.  Some form of crypto backdoor might even be built in secret. And Congress still threatens to advance legislation that could ban user-­controlled encryption outright.”  – Wired

—  “Sorry sir, this bank no longer allows you to choose your own password.”

—  “Sorry sir, this library no longer allows you to choose your own password.”

—  “Sorry sir, this post office/UPS no longer allows you to ship packages without a verifiable street address that matches the street address on your ID.”

—  “Sorry sir, you cannot check into this hotel because your drivers license/passport has been pinged.”

—  “Sorry sir, you cannot buy this phone without sending your fingerprint to a law enforcement database.”

—  “Sorry sir, you cannot use this Internet cafe without submitting your photo to a facial recognition database.”

—  “Sorry sir, you cannot buy this printer/fax machine without a government mandated forensic/monitoring chip.”

—  “Sorry sir, you cannot use this email service without registering your computer.”

—  “Sorry sir, you’re under arrest for using a computer/Internet service that is not registered with local law enforcement.”

—  “Sorry sir, you’re under arrest for developing/distributing/using encryption software without a high level security clearance from a Homeland supervised government agency.”

7 thoughts on “Techno Dystopia Premise

  1. @Camestros: You may have paid the room rental and tax in advance. What happens if you charge things like meals to your room, or cause damage to the property? That hasn’t been paid for in advance, and the hotel wants to be able to collect.

    If you want a scarier prospect, what happens if cash goes away, and the only way to buy things is a credit or debit card? We are rapidly approaching that point.

  2. I meant to say, “You cannot check into this hotel because your drivers license / passport has been pinged.”

  3. Carl Slaughter on November 5, 2016 at 3:13 pm said:

    I meant to say, “You cannot check into this hotel because your drivers license / passport has been pinged.”

    Indeed scary (and I hope you saw my comment as me agreeing with you – looking at it now it seems a bit stark and possibly could be read as suggesting your points are no big deal)

  4. If you want a scarier prospect, what happens if cash goes away, and the only way to buy things is a credit or debit card? We are rapidly approaching that point.

    Sweden is working on it.

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