The other day when I was using Google Maps, I noticed that in my local area, the map showed the streets in blue outline. This means that these areas are viewable at street level; that Google has driven down MY street taking panoramic photos.
I'm not one of the people who objects to this. I think it's very cool.
A few doors down from my house, a neighbor happened to be out at his mailbox. He was caught on-camera, and now anyone traveling (virtually) down my street has a way to associate that face with that address.
Someday, image-recognition will be so mainstream that you will be able to locate all the photos of a person that are on the Web.
And, if our society becomes more transparent than it is now, which I believe it should, this capability will expand to include real-time access to all of those surveillance cameras. Eventually, the real-time location of every individual in the world will be tracked.
This has huge implications, as I'm sure you're thinking. We will need to control access to information about ourselves, in a more transparent was than is done now. Currently, you have NO IDEA who is looking at your personal records. In fact, cube workers have been caught looking at medical records of celebrities that they were "curious" about.
Someday, you will be notified and asked for permission any time someone accesses your most personal information. You will be able to set levels of access such that you can relinquish control over certain public records. Right now, you have to pay a little extra to NOT be listed in your local telephone directory. In the future, you may be able to sell access to your records.
There's a lot to be said on this topic. I will keep going, soon.
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