In the Orwellian nightmare scenario of 1984, Big Brother is watching you, and everybody else, anytime you give a digital signal. And that is almost all the time.
Mr Snowden proved that surveillance is possible beyond belief – no matter where you are or how important you are.
There are plenty of reasons to not like it. But we have to get used to it because it will not go away. Even if the good guys put a restraint on themselves – you can be sure that the bad guys will not – simply because they can.
On top of that we are going to be exposed to surveillance from the air by drones.
Big ugly ones used to take out the Taliban and the like. And small funny ones to be bought in any toy shop.
They could be hovering over us like hawks looking for a mouse. They could be used to register your travel, location, activities, but not yet your thoughts.
Should we be alarmed? Probably not. Unless of course a kid flies one into the side of your head.
We heard the other day that developers are now designing an algorithm that is able to read and print your dreams. Is that really possible? Maybe.
Might artificial intelligence one day outwit us all? Possibly.
Will this happen in our time? Maybe. And so what? As the Danish king Cnut demonstrated, there is a limit to what we can do.
But we need to realise that there is no limit to technology.
The remedy is not to prevent intelligence but to protect us from what is done with it.
And the best advice is to demand transparency – we have a right to know – and ignore it if your sky is momentarily blurred by a drone flown by the neighbour’s kid.
