https://pioneerworks.org/broadcast/quantum-cliff-aram-sinnreich-jesse-gilbert
Door: Aram Sinnreich & Jesse Gilbert
“The scenario unfolds as follows: One day, decades of your private digital life will be rendered public information, without your knowledge or consent. First, a handful of wealthy states and big tech companies will have access to your data. Then, as quantum computers become cheaper and your decrypted data gets repackaged and sold, other commercial interests will join in on the feast. Ultimately, given the ubiquity of datafied global networks, there’s no telling how many people will have access to your secrets. It’s easy to imagine a world a decade or two from now in which they’re simply available to anyone, in searchable public archives as easy to find as your birthday or a photo of your face. And, unless you’re a corporate executive, federal policymaker, or cybersecurity professional, it’s likely that nobody will have bothered to warn you about it.”
“What does that mean in practice? As with solving any problem, the first step is to acknowledge we have one. We need to talk about data, power, and surveillance the same way we do about climate change, or pandemics, or the economy—as matters of shared concern, with the rigor and nuance they demand. We must understand that the struggle over who has access to data is a ubiquitous and powerful aspect of our environment, one that we can’t easily escape and shouldn’t risk ignoring. It should be reflected across every facet of culture: in our everyday conversations, daily news articles, and sit-com plots.”
