From the interview:<p><i>> People could look back in 100 years and identify the coronavirus epidemic as the moment when a new regime of surveillance took over, especially surveillance under the skin ... is maybe the most important development of the 21st century, this ability to hack human beings, to go under the skin, collect biometric data, analyze it, and understand people better than they understand themselves. This is maybe the most important event of the 21st century.</i><p>From Dec 2019, <a href="https://news.mit.edu/2019/storing-vaccine-history-skin-1218" rel="nofollow">https://news.mit.edu/2019/storing-vaccine-history-skin-1218</a><p><i>> MIT researchers have now developed a novel way to record a patient’s vaccination history: storing the data in a pattern of dye, invisible to the naked eye, that is delivered under the skin at the same time as the vaccine ... By selectively loading microparticles into microneedles, the patches deliver a pattern in the skin that is invisible to the naked eye but can be scanned with a smartphone ... “It’s possible someday that this ‘invisible’ approach could create new possibilities for data storage, biosensing, and vaccine applications</i>
The thing I don't understand is why people can't be trusted to just have and store their data themselves and provide it on-demand. I'm perfectly fine with having my own medical records on a keychain that I have control over, which I share with medical professionals when needed. Give me a standardized data storage dog tag and I'll just wear it all the time ..
I'm actually happy about living in Europe with GDPR implemented. It was (and still is to some extent) a big hassle (me working in IT) and it was also filling up the news and inboxes for some time. Kind of like Covid-19 is now.<p>It's possible to just send a company an email, ask them to delete all the data they have related to you that aren't required to archive for legal/accounting reasons and it will happen. I've tried.<p>I'm also a bit surprised that "Covid-19"-apps is seen as a silver bullet to help solve the crisis. It's like the governments and big companies feel the need to fit the phrase "there's and app for that". Also, what will the actual value be? It's hard to see it as a consumer (semi-)quarantining in his/her home. Easy to conspiracy theorise on them finding a reason to just start watching everyone's step.
Laws when introduced in Britain that add value for the police are rarely rolled back unilaterally. It generally requires a fight through the courts that takes many year. E.g. ID cards at the end of WW2.
Thanks for sharing this! I recently read Homo Deus and I was wondering how he feels about the first few chapters of his book now with covid-19 having joined the party.