Why we can’t have nice (tech) things

Remember the Ring Doorbell ad from the superbowl? This one. It showed how doorbell cam footage could be used to track down a lost dog. One the one hand, I love this. My dog Madeline ran away (several times) as a boy and it was heartbreaking. I would have loved this technology to find Madeline.

The internet was quick to point out that this was another mass serveilance tool that would undoubtably be used by Big Brother.

Speaking of Big Brother, there’s also Flock, the Palantir backed mass surveillance technology. This is an awesome technology but its also as destructive to society as a nuclear bomb.

This is where government MUST work to protect its citizen. Of course, in the US, this seems like a pipe dream right now.

The rolling back of regulations that were designed to protect citizens.

The minor slaps on the wrist when companies get caught.

Where has government oversight been a success?

The first one that comes to mind in the GDPR Framework in Europe. While its not perfect, it does aim to protect citizens from having their data tracked, sold and leaked. And think proof of its success is that I hear it brought up as a consideration when people are designing a product.

I’m not sure why a governement and society at large accept the 1% asshole rule. There will always be (at least) 1% of people who will use technology for evil.
Asshole’s power and ability to be an asshole need to be held in check. That really should be the governement’s main pregrogative.

Mark Andreeson, a major investor in Flock, was on Joe Rogan saying how Flock was protecting cities from gangs and crime. On the one hand I believe that this technology is very much capable of lowering crime. On the other hand many police have already been accused of using flock illegally — And these are just rogue officers stalking ex-girlfriends. The scary thing is when this stuff is used to go after political enemy, go after Big tech loves to use the

The trust is gone. Of course the first reaction by many is that there is no way this can end well. Why would it? Has big tech shown it cares about the wellbeing of the general public? Of course not. Money and Power is what’s important.

I torn. Anyone who’s lost a dog or been robbed or worse would love to see technology that brings justice to a broken world. But without proper regulations, this tech is scary stuff and the assholes will use to become super-assholes. Boy was I torn but this use Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.