'Privacy Will End in 2013' Financial Times - Digital Business (12/03/08) P. 6; Shillingford, Joia
as it appeared in the December 10, 2008 edition of ACM TechNews.
CSC Digital Disruptions report lead researcher Alex Fuss says that information will become increasingly transparent in the future, and social networks will enable businesses to solve problems far faster and more effectively. Fuss envisions a future in which RFID-like tags enable the world to track every detail of the financial markets, similar to how department stores can track products. By 2013, technology will be widely used to monitor people's lives, but Fuss believes if this information is made available to everyone the Big Brother element would be negated. "You'll still be able to have secrets, but only if you can keep them off the Net," he says. "Privacy will be available, but only to those who can afford to pay for it. For most people, privacy will end in 2013, or a little beyond that." Multitasking will increase, so attention metrics will re-emerge to measure the success of TV programs, advertisements, and other initiatives, Fuss says. Quantum computing will make modern encryption obsolete, jeopardizing any transaction that relies on encryption. People also will be able to print toys, parts, furniture, and other products using three-dimensional printers. From 2025 to 2050, and beyond, nanotechnology will provide the ability to create anything, molecule by molecule, Fuss predicts. "The technology is at very early stages, but it is definitely going to happen," he says. View Full Article
