As I watching Black Mirror, I couldn’t help but think what if this was true. What if there was a pill or a shot you were given which could monitor all your thoughts. I mean pills to monitor the physiological parameters already exist. They have implants or patches for introducing hormones and nicotine. There are pacemakers and devices to synchronize your heart. So what is to say that there aren’t already ways to read your mind. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate surveillance weapon for the government? If there are individuals that the government would like to keep tabs on in the genuine interest of national security, that would an ideal way for the government to know. However, would that be humane?
Certain shows in the recent times had this idea of vocalizing the thoughts in one’s mind which I found to be quite bizarre to be honest. Why would you want to know what is going on in one’s mind every second of the day. Every person deserves to have privacy at least in their head. Sometimes, it may be difficult to know whether or not you can truly trust another individual. In those situations, the only person you can trust is yourself and if you can’t even have that because of some pill, would you be OK with that? I do see the point of surveillance to prevent terrorism (domestic or international), however can we ensure that the surveillance technologies and methods will not be misused to harm innocent individuals? Several big tech companies are coming up humane technology which looks at ethical practices to prevent addiction to social media as they should. I feel like this should be extended to include technological innovations and practices to avoid misuse of technology to protect the privacy needs of customers.
Often the creators of the peril are the ones to understand the intricacies and nuances of it and they may be best posed to provide a solution. Although sometimes, it may be like screen apnea where if you are constantly using the technology, it may be difficult to come up with fresh solutions.
