Once again, two seemingly unrelated events tell us a lot about the evolution of our society. On the condition that we dare to think beyond statistics and averages in order to perceive the generality behind the anecdote and the axiom behind the example.
This time two incidents that made the news, fully independently, are teaching us to reassess the crucial role of mobile devices in the ideological and political development of our societies.
1. The overflights of French nuclear power stations by unidentified drones, coinciding with the upcoming of cheap drones equipped with excellent video cameras that are going to come on to the market, forecast that from now on everyone will be at risk of being filmed wherever he is, outdoors or even in an apartment provided that the shutters are opened: Drones have already been used to film people in meeting rooms located on the 50th floor outside a Manhattan building. And facial recognition softwares, increasingly more accurate, will no longer respect the least anonymity.
2. The recording of a conversation/interview by two journalists through a cell phone warns that any phone casually put on the table during lunch, a meeting or near a bed can record the whole conversation, without the knowledge of at least one of the parties. And audio recognition softwares will eliminate any remaining doubt about the identity of the speakers.
If both events are taken together, and if we extrapolate on what this may cause, we can see that the tyranny of transparency has come to be, and even faster than expected by the vulgate of the forecasters: Everything can now be seen and heard. But also the tyranny of insecurity because any drone can carry an explosive charge that any cell phone can trigger.
That is the infernal logic behind these stories: The cell phone can remotely control a drone. Both drone and mobile phone can be used for surveillance purposes. Both mobile phone and drone can be a threat. And as the threat serves as a pretext for surveillance, both the dynamics of either of them will be caught in a self-sustaining process and become exponential.
3. The link between these two technologies is all the more clearly evident through a third piece of information that went somewhat unnoticed this week: The US Administration recently acknowledged the use of eavesdropping equipment, on the grounds of national security, that can overhear mobile phone conversations of tens of millions of Americans through devices deployed on airplanes that mimic cellphone towers; tomorrow on drones.
That is the world in which we will be living: A tyranny accepted under the rule of fear.
If we do not take care, if we do not implement the rule of law to protect our private lives and strengthen our right to be ourselves freely, then the worst will come from seemingly innocent technologies and yet they carry with them, if one is willing, both tremendous progress and great liberties.
j@attali.com
