Our minds are already read against our will and we missed it
Trust thought for today - I had a lightbulb moment this morning brought on by this brilliant article from Human Rights lawyer Susie Alegre, many of you on to this already of course!
https://lnkd.in/gStDTVax
I was reassured by speakers at yesterday's neurotech conference that fears about our minds being read against our will won't happen anytime soon. But perhaps they are wrong and that line has already been crossed and we missed it because it doesn't come in the form we expect such as foreign spies zapping us with radio waves as we walk past?
As Susie shows, freedom of expression is often discussed, but freedom of thought not. Freedom of thought is a fundamental right under agreed human rights law - you have an absolute right to think what you like in your own head, to an 'inner life' that is not shared with the world. Some call it “the foundation of democratic society” or “the basis and origin of all other rights”. The right has three elements:
* the right not to reveal one’s thoughts or opinions;
* the right not to have one’s thoughts or opinions manipulated; and
* the right not to be penalised for one’s thoughts
Which brings us to social media. What about when the thoughts we express in our searches or posts are claimed to identify personality traits and with our habits or how we express ourselves used to categorise us and change the way others interact with us, to predict our future thoughts and responses and our actions manipulated to suit agendas not necessarily our own - is this still about freedom of expression or is it now a breach of our right to freedom of thought?
"What is the true scope of freedom of thought in the internet age? What exactly is “thought” requiring protection? At what point does the use of our 'data' reach beyond details of our private life and into our thoughts?"
"The right to freedom of thought has taken a back seat in the discourse around human rights and the internet so far. It is as if we cannot bear to accept that our thoughts may not be our own, that someone could reach inside our minds and manipulate the way we see the world. It is an unbearable idea. Privacy and data protection law will only protect our rights so far and they are at risk of dilution. People can be blasé about their privacy in a way that they may not be about their free will. "
Linking also to my enragement about language. The debate is about 'Data' it is the distanced language of business design to obscure meaning. Let's change the language to more human language about our thoughts, our freedoms our free will which we have accidentally given away without knowing.
And then there is future neurotech which will do this and much more. Gulp! But glad so many thoughtful others already on the case. Disappointing these folks anticipated this all along & we couldn't prevent it.
Any thoughts Fraser Sampson, Reema Patel, Mathew Mytka, Arnold Schrijver, Nathan Kinch, Dr Raj Thamotheram, Simon Zadek
https://lnkd.in/gStDTVax