Imagining the Internet

A vision for the future

This is one of nearly a thousand foresight statements shared by people from around the world. To return to the Voices of the People home page, click here. To do a refined search of the Voices of the People statements, click here. To submit your ideas to this online archive, look to the upper right corner of this page, click on "Share Your Prediction" and fill in the pop-up form.

Name: Salam Tims

From: Florida

Bio: 35 Years as Systems Analyst, PC/Net (ARPANET) user since early 80s, writer/filmmaker

Area of Expertise: Author/Editor/Journalist

Topic: Privacy

Headline: Privacy Fades Out as Transparency Fades In

Nutshell: Everyone is online all the time and all "walls" (fire and other) are transparent semi-permeable membranes.

Vision: The combination of globally integrated databases and networks, microminiaturization (even without nanotech), wideband wireless, and-ultimately-biotech implants, will put everyone online all the time. Privacy will become a quaint concept.

Your entire life, including your medical history (including your current state), police records, employment history, and your exact present physical whereabouts will be an open, online, e-book, instantly referenced by anyone who cares to look. (Unofficial) crime will become obsolete. Personal disclosure will be at best discretionary and at worst involuntary. Personal freedom will either be total or extinct depending on other social factors beyond the Net itself.

Date Submitted: 11/10/2004