[extropy-chat] Many eyes

[Dan Clemmensen]

Max M wrote:

> Dan Clemmensen wrote:
>
>> Brin's "Transparent society" argues that we cannot put the toothpaste
>> back in the tube: existing technological trends will inevitably permit
>> constant monitoring of everybody.
>
>
>
> 35000 GB or 35 Terabytes can record everything you experience 24/7 for 
> a year in DV quality. Compress that a bit more to DIV-X quality and 
> you need only 4400 GB per year. Cut out your sleeping time, and you 
> need about 2900 GB.
>
> So with current harddisk prices, it will cost $1800 a year to record 
> everything you experince in near DVD quality.

Actually, storage costs are decreasing as about 50% per year, so the 
total lifetime cost will be $3600 if you start this year. 
($1800+$900+$450+....)

>
> With the current development of wireless, storage etc. it is not even 
> far out. It can be done right now, and will only get simpler and 
> cheaper in the future!

Yes, but I'm not sure I understand your system model. Storage lets you 
monitor your (past) self. I assume that you are thinking of these other 
technologies as part of the pervasive monitoring infrastructure. We can 
monitor each human for $3600 for storage, plus the actual cost of the 
monitoring infrastructure. the monitoring infrastructure comprises the 
ubiquitous stealthy data network and the actual monitors.

>
> The only things missing are lightweight allways-on video cameras, and 
> automation of the storage compression process ... and a bit of money.
>
Automation of the compression process is ongoing. Cheap, low-cost tiny 
video cam technology is being driven by cell phones. This adds up to 
pervasive surveillance at the point when the damn things are so cheap 
that they can be scattered by the millions. Assume we need on average 
1000 cameras per human (say 800 unique to the human and 200 for that 
human's contribution to monitoring of public spaces.) If we drive the 
unit cost down to $10, we are in range of a pervasive monitoring 
infrastructure. An individual monitor is a robot with a camera and 
microphone that can act as a node of the stealth network. It hides like 
a cockroach, and gets energy from organic matter like a cockroach. It 
talks to all its little friends using the stealthiest means at its 
disposal. Its size is constrained primarily by its optical lens. It 
would cost about $1000/unit to build today, and it would be too big to 
be useful. It will cost about $100 in 5ive years and might be feasible. 
It will coat $10 in ten years and will be small enough to hide.

Can you find and destroy these devices faster than I can deploy them? I 
don't know.