Databases are a powerful tool, combine them with AI and machine learning and you have a formidable mechanism for monitoring populations. How we filter and use the information we are now capturing has the potential to cripple governments, change economic models, and decide medical outcomes. We’ve seen ample evidence of this over the last several months as countries fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
As governments scramble to track the spread and eradication of the virus, new methods of tracking are being developed both by government entities and corporations. These new tracking apps can show where a person travels and even who they encounter as they move about. This functionality is already readily available on our smartphones; we’ve surrendered our privacy to all sorts of apps—from health trackers to individual store apps and even the mapping software itself.
We’ve maintained a false sense of “anonymization” of our data for too long. And we’ve given away our privacy for convenience. Now, however, we’re about to trade our privacy for an illusion of safety. The fear of this virus has led to all sorts of decisions that would have seemed ridiculous a couple decades ago. It’s time we stop kidding ourselves that what we are putting in place now to track and report on individuals doesn’t have the potential to be used against us down the road.
Helen Meyers 