Why even bother writing science fiction…
In my own novel I allow the protagonist and other citizens to provide passive scans. These scans reveal names and other, mostly innocuous information, but colonists, basically super-citizens, are able to pull out more interesting information from the global database. Similarly, these credentials allow access to different parts of the city, queue in to the transportation network with saved preferences, and reference all manner of banking and authentication services.
Luckily, in my world, these tools are used rather infrequently and their misuse, while possible, is considered relatively rare and insignificant. I’m not so sure our own world is on such a benign track. The rules regarding large corporate database’s are especially arcane. How much information does Facebook actually have? How easily can that be connected with other publicly accessible information? Given the nearly endless supply of personal details that pass through the system, often without an individual’s knowledge, the potential for mischief is staggering. It would be an interesting study to find out how completely a person who was not a member of Facebook or Myspace or another social networking service could be constructed through implied data.
Even more interesting is the possibilty of collisions or orphaned data. Will two people appear merged in a database? With a certain level of skill and luck, could a person construct an entire digital persona so completely that they, for all intents and purposes, actually exist? In time could this profile, meticulously crafted for years, be translated into a real life identity? Currently a person can’t apply for a driver’s license using a Myspace profile, but newscorp doesn’t own the DMV yet. That’s maybe excessive…but I have to wonder how much.
Almost Monday, have a good week everyone!
