Why You Should Embrace Surveillance, Not Fight It

Monitoring and surveillance by corporations and government will be the norm by 2060 if not now. “The internet is a tracking machine,” writes Kevin Kelly. “Everything that can be measured is already tracked, and all that was previously [unmeasurable] is becoming quantified, digitized, and trackable.” Kelly argues that human propensity to share trumps privacy. Individuals can improve by learning about their health and habits from data banks, and a company should offer benefits to internet users for the data contributed. He urges mutual coveillance – citizens watching government and companies as much as companies and government watch individuals, and suggests that those who support the internet should accept coveillance monitoring that is transparent and free of abuse with strong enforcement and penalties. He contends that citizens and good governance should shape data collection and analysis. But perhaps individuals already do with self-control and free will, engaging with others who think the same, and with creative internet use that counters the expectations by others. – YaleGlobal