Imagine a world in the not too distant future. Immediately upon birth, a sample of blood is taken from the newborn child. The results return quickly. The mother, holding her infant, begins to sob upon the doctor's evaluation. On a scale of 100, the child is rated to be a 24 – he suffers from myopia and asthma, and has an estimated life expectancy of just 36 years. The inconsolable, distraught mother cannot help but despair upon picturing the grim future of her son. His grading relegates him to the lowest levels of education, as there is little incentive for the government to invest in his betterment given his minimal estimated time for contribution. Before the child speaks his first word or takes his first step, his destiny is known to his family and his government, the latter of whom will ensure that not an iota of extra attention will be misapplied to the boy.
As the mother enters the subway station carrying a bassinet with the sleeping baby, tens of cameras observe her. Some record directly for the federal government, searching for threats to the paramount issue, national security. Others exist in more capitalistic capacities. A camera observes the dark circles under her eyes, a product of many tears and sleepless nights. Another interprets the image of the bassinet to mean that the young female is a new mother. Yet another camera compiles information on the branding and labels of her clothing and accessories, information which will be sold to the highest bidder. As the woman walks through security, the signs on either side light up. One advertises the newest innovation in makeup to hide "those pesky sleep circles," while another expounds upon the merits of the newest diaper technology.
This scenario is little more than a mixing of privacy invading technologies present in two near future movies, Gattaca and Minority Report. In Gattaca, the government segregates via genetic function, and in the latter, identification scans reveal location and interest to concerned parties. Such technologies represent a clear breach of privacy, to the point of arguably violating one of the Fourth Amendment's protected conceptions of privacy. Privacy is thought of by some as being little more than a constraint upon the power of the government to regulate. The genetic testing and ranking represents the furthest departure from such privacy – the government regulates solely on the basis of an incursion on private health records. The targeted advertisement represents the ultimate evolution of the consumer panopticon.
If Gattaca and Minority Report are any indication, the near future is bleak and absent of any inkling of privacy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I believe this posting is a great illustration of where things could go in the long-term future if there were to be a complete disregard to privacy. To date, it is illegal for doctors to release medical information to any third parties without consent of the patient. If this law were to remain intact, a scenario such as the one referenced in the movies named below could not occur. The government would not have access to the diagnosis of a newborn’s health, nor could “they” make decisions regarding an allocation of funding based on this data (because in essence, they would not have this data).
However, it is important to note how changes to the healthcare provided in our society could potentially affect privacy. For example, as more aspects of healthcare become technologically based, will it be harder to maintain needed privacy? Criminals hack into Facebook accounts, create viruses that destroy hard drives, and steal identities via credit card information—it is not unrealistic to think that these same individuals would hack into private medical data, too. In order for our country to maintain equality, regardless or in spite of medical history or condition, additional privacy measures must be implemented.
But overall, I think that it is the belief in the betterment of each individual to reach their greatest potential that serves as a fundamental building block for the American dream so yes, as technology advances, so too will the measures of privacy advance.
Post a Comment