| I'm a big fan of new technology. Just in the past week, I've seen new medical tech that enables quadriplegics to move once-lifeless limbs, new battlefield tech that will save wounded soldiers' lives and a robotic forklift valet, which means I won't have to wait 20 minutes for a kid to run a few blocks to retrieve my car.
These are all great innovations. But there are other innovations coming down the pike that aren't so great. In fact, they give me the shivers. And you should be afraid too.
Even worse, the government and its accomplices in the media are busy convincing people that this scary new tech is great! Fantastic! A must-have!
So the chances of us avoiding this dystopian future are rather slim.
Here are three things that freak me out.
1) Google's Acquisition of Skybox.
Megalithic Google paid $500 million in cash to buy satellite-imaging company Skybox Imaging. Skybox puts satellites into orbit 185 miles above Earth. The satellites hitchhike a ride on Russian rockets.
So why is this a game changer? There are only nine satellites in orbit now that capture high resolution images for commercial purposes. They are so good, they are often commandeered for national security by the U.S. government. That means we get what's left. The result: Most of the pictures of the Earth that you see are A) poor quality and B) often years out of date.
But by 2016, Skybox will be able to take full images of the Earth twice a day, at a resolution that was illegal to sell commercially until just a couple of weeks ago. It will do all this with just a half-dozen satellites to start, though it plans to launch 24 in all.
Here is a graphic representation of the change in quality...  The image on the left is what was legal until a few weeks ago. The image on the right is what's legal now, since the Department of Commerce just lifted a ban on satellite images that showed features smaller than 20 inches.
Google says it will use Skybox to improve Google maps. You'll now be able to see traffic jams in real time. Fair enough. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. - Google will be able to tell if you're checking your mailbox.
- Google will be able to watch you sunbathe in your backyard.
- Google will be able to track you from your home to the office to a bar for drinks after work, and home again.
And not just Google. Imagine how government agencies from the local police to the National Security Administration must be salivating at the thought of being able to get a constant stream of real-time, ultra-high resolution images of anyone they like. Maybe even you.
The new "high-res" satellite photos are a shoe-in for corporate espionage. For the right price, a company will be able to tell how much oil a competitor is pumping out of the ground... how much new inventory is being shipped to a particular retail chain... new models of cars and airplanes before they are officially launched... really, the only limit for potential abuse is your imagination.
So yeah, this is scary. And it's coming in 2016.
2) Retail Store "Beacons"
This one is insidious. The next big thing in brick-and-mortar retail stores is "beacons." These are devices that scan your identity when you walk into a store by talking to your smartphone. Within five years, 72% of retailers will have this ability.
Potential abuse is obvious. Just wait until thieves hijack the beacon and use it to download credit card data from your smartphone.
But there's a lot more that can go wrong... or even just embarrassing. Let's say you walk into a sex-toy store to get a gag gift for a friend's birthday, then change your mind without buying a thing. Too late - guess what your Facebook ads are going to be about for the next week?
Sex-toy gag gifts aside, what this really means is retailers will have an insane level of knowledge about their customers.
3) Tricorders
I'm a huge geek. In fact, I just got Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray disc. (Amazon was having a crazy sale). And it's funny how much "future" tech from that show is coming to real life. For example, cellphones were inspired by the communication device Kirk used to talk to the Enterprise ("Beam me up, Scotty"). Talking computers are another example. And now, those medical tricorders that Dr. McCoy used to check people's health are coming to real life.
The problem is, it's not just good ol' Dr. McCoy who will be using it.
There are a few variants and manufacturers. The best-known one is an Israel-based firm called Consumer Physics. It launched a Kickstarter campaign for its SCiO.
According to Kickstarter, the SCiO is "the world's first affordable molecular sensor that fits in the palm of your hand. SCiO is a tiny spectrometer and allows you to get instant relevant information about the chemical make-up of just about anything around you, sent directly to your smartphone."
And there are cool things SCiO will do. For example, in a supermarket, you could scan individual pieces of fruit to see how ripe they are. If you have food allergies, you could scan meals to see if they have ingredients you should avoid. If someone mixed up their medication, a doctor could scan them and see what's out of balance.
But it's the potential this technology has for abuse that should scare us. The next step will be to scan your bloodstream to see all the stuff that's in it. In fact, multiple companies are already working on a wearable, non-invasive blood-sugar monitor.
So, you might think what's in your bloodstream is your business. A cop scanning people walking down the street might have a different idea.
And wait till insurance companies get ahold of this. Are you overweight? What if your insurer offers you a lower rate as long as you agree to lose weight and cut back on sugar? Sounds good, right? Except when they show up to spot-check you with a tricorder scanner. What, you had a slice of birthday cake at an office party? Too bad, buddy - your insurance is going up.
Does that sound paranoid to you? Nah, here's paranoid: The government decides we all must start taking happy pills. Cops walk around with tricorders to make sure you're on your medication.
But that can't happen... can it?
Welcome to the Future
Heck, I haven't even gotten to drones. That was supposed to be a wonderful new technology, right? And it is for some things. But did you hear that a woman in Seattle caught a drone spying on her through her apartment window? Or how about that the Mexican narco cartels are using drones to fly drugs over the border?
Those things are the flip side of the slap-happy, high-tech reality the government is pushing. Welcome to the Brave New World.
There are things you can do to protect yourself, your privacy and your identity. I covered five of them in an earlier story. And if you want cybersecurity stock ideas, please check out my article: Is Your Refrigerator Spying on You?
All the best,
Sean Brodrick
for Free Market Café |
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