The smartphone is the most sophisticated surveillance device.
How did the powers that be convince everyone they need one on the at all times?
These devices are essentially a microphone, a camera, a GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, fingerprint monitor, heart rate monitor, air pressure, temperature monitor and RF transceiver all in one. It has the computing power to record not only all of this information, but your usage of the phone, what words you type, how long you look at a screen and what it is you were looking at and more.
All of this data is transmitted consistently and sent to a central server for processing and analysis. A computer you don't own, used by someone you don't know and will never meet, has enough data on you to know what you do on a day to day basis, what you use your phone for, how you are traveling from place to place, and likely has a psychological profile on you.
If you ask someone why they have curtains in their house, they say it's to protect their privacy, but how private can you really be if you were carrying around a smartphone every day? How are people okay with being this exposed? Sometimes I can see the wisdom that the Taliban had when they decided to ban Television at some point. This technology that nobody understands and just uses because "muh convenience" has necessarily resulted in a lack of personal freedom.
These devices are essentially a microphone, a camera, a GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, fingerprint monitor, heart rate monitor, air pressure, temperature monitor and RF transceiver all in one. It has the computing power to record not only all of this information, but your usage of the phone, what words you type, how long you look at a screen and what it is you were looking at and more.
All of this data is transmitted consistently and sent to a central server for processing and analysis. A computer you don't own, used by someone you don't know and will never meet, has enough data on you to know what you do on a day to day basis, what you use your phone for, how you are traveling from place to place, and likely has a psychological profile on you.
If you ask someone why they have curtains in their house, they say it's to protect their privacy, but how private can you really be if you were carrying around a smartphone every day? How are people okay with being this exposed? Sometimes I can see the wisdom that the Taliban had when they decided to ban Television at some point. This technology that nobody understands and just uses because "muh convenience" has necessarily resulted in a lack of personal freedom.
[DE]
> How did the powers that be convince everyone they need one on the at all times?
It started with convincing people they need a cell phone at all times, which is somewhat legitimate. Being able to call people when they aren't near their landline is genuinely very useful.
Then someone figured out how to minaturize a tablet into a cell phone form factor, called it a "smartphone", and people kept feeling like they need it.
These days the only reason I have a smartphone is so I can use Signal. Otherwise I would have ditched it long ago.
It started with convincing people they need a cell phone at all times, which is somewhat legitimate. Being able to call people when they aren't near their landline is genuinely very useful.
Then someone figured out how to minaturize a tablet into a cell phone form factor, called it a "smartphone", and people kept feeling like they need it.
These days the only reason I have a smartphone is so I can use Signal. Otherwise I would have ditched it long ago.