All This Dystopia, and for What?

Money Sharma/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In the year I’ve been writing this column, and voraciously reading articles about digital privacy, an unsettling theme has emerged. A report introduces a piece of technology with terrifying, privacy-eroding implications. The technology — facial recognition, digital ad tracking, spyware, you name it — is being rapidly deployed by companies that aren’t considering the potential societal harms. The report produces understandable frustration and concern. Then, upon further examination, the claims regarding the technology break down. That groundbreaking piece of technology, it turns out, is deeply flawed. Instead of a perfect panopticon, you have a surveillance-state equivalent of a lemon, or worse yet, total snake oil. […]

Click here to view original web page at www.nytimes.com