Found via blustr on Twitter is an NYT article which is, really, just another brick in the wall…

HARRISON BROWN, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in mathematics at M.I.T., didn’t need to do complex calculations to figure out he liked this deal: in exchange for letting researchers track his every move, he receives a free smartphone.

Now, when he dials another student, researchers know. When he sends an e-mail or text message, they also know. When he listens to music, they know the song. Every moment he has his Windows Mobile smartphone with him, they know where he is, and who’s nearby.

Mr. Brown and about 100 other students living in Random Hall at M.I.T. have agreed to swap their privacy for smartphones that generate digital trails to be beamed to a central computer. Beyond individual actions, the devices capture a moving picture of the dorm’s social network.

I’ve written extensively on this subject in the past, but I think it’s one of the issues of primary importance for anyone who both values individual liberty and enjoys the benefits of technology. This article perfectly illustrates the classic technique always used to push new surveillance technologies forward: give it away for free to test market groups to stimulate interest and improve the technology for mass markets.

What happens next with massive sets of behavioral and social data is that these things get fed into a modeling or social simulation system, something similar to SEAS/SWS:

Purdue University’s Synthetic Environment for Analysis and Simulations, or SEAS, is currently being used by Homeland Security and the US Defense Department to simulate crises on the US mainland.[1] SEAS “enables researchers and organizations to try out their models or techniques in a publicly known, realistically detailed environment.”[2] It “is now capable of running real-time simulations for up to 62 nations, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and China. The simulations gobble up breaking news, census data, economic indicators, and climactic events in the real world, along with proprietary information such as military intelligence. […]

Sentient World Simulation is the name given to the current vision of making SEAS a “continuously running, continually updated mirror model of the real world that can be used to predict and evaluate future events and courses of action.”

So, basically, by giving away all your attention data and social data (in exchange for goods and services), you’re helping fuel a massive system of mathematical predictive modeling designed both to predict and to drive human behavior.

If you’re morally okay with that, then I say go for it. Cause who cares - it’s just life, right? But for the rest of us, what are our options in a world where these sorts of technologies are becoming ubiquitous? At this point, I’m ready to say that “the fight is over” in preventing these kinds of technologies from coming into being or entering into the marketplace. It’s already happened. It’s already happening. It’s going to happen no matter what you do or don’t do about it.

So my thoughts at this point? Adapt. Find the best deal. Learn who takes what data and what they do with it. That’s a first step. Sustainable surveillance. Chances are you won’t be able to find the truth about that kind of data mining, sharing and other usage, though. Call me pessimistic, but I call it realistic. Thanks to bits like the DMCA and PATRIOT ACT the laws are against ordinary liberty and personal privacy. We’ve surrendered those notions at the altar of convenience and so-called “security.” And I don’t see us getting them back any time soon, if ever. Adaptation.

How do we adapt? The NYT article talks about these new technologies leveraging a concept called “collective intelligence.”

Coupled with information already gathered from sources like Web surfing and credit cards, the data is the basis for an emerging field called collective intelligence.

Propelled by new technologies and the Internet’s steady incursion into every nook and cranny of life, collective intelligence offers powerful capabilities, from improving the efficiency of advertising to giving community groups new ways to organize.

Wikipedia defines it basically as “…group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals.” This model, I think, will be what will provide those of us with an old-fashioned definition of individual rights and liberty with the methodology to at least cope, if not necessarily conquer.

In other words, it’s time to get creative and it’s time to talk to other people about working together creatively, to leverage our “collective intelligence” (which we absolutely DON’T need computers and telephones and other market technology to access) in order to come to some kind of solution which works for us, without spinning our wheels to fight something which is - frankly - inevitable.

So what are some creative solutions for coping with all-pervasive surveillance technology? We ought to start a running list, maybe print out pamphlets. What I have seen so far:

1. If you know you’re on camera, act. I originally happened across this notion via comic book author and pop magickian Grant Morrison: that as our culture increasingly turns towards being watched constantly, people are going to simply start acting differently when they know they are being watched. This is a major component of why I’ve become interested in theatre and the subject of the presentation of the self in every-day life. Who are you? What do you do? What kinds of behaviors do you exhibit to others? How would you like to be seen by others? How do you want to be remembered? These are all valid worthwhole questions with or without a total surveillance state. Addressing them on their own, directly and with courage, I think is the surest route to liberating yourself fully and completely from the possibility of fear and paranoia that a schizophrenic surveillance state initiates. If you’re living well, according to the lifestyle that suits you best, and taking proper accomodations to ensure that you can continue that lifestyle, then you’ll probably be fine. Live bold and free and out in the open. Don’t hide unless you’re being stupid about something. And if you’re being stupid about something, stop. Learn how to be smarter - cause this is all going down on your PERMANENT RECORD!
2. Obfuscate, obfuscate, obfuscate. Long the domain of spies, criminals and intelligence officers, data obfuscation is now coming into vogue with ordinary folks like you and me. Are massive sets of data being collected on your activities? Yes! You can be 100% sure, although you can’t be certain of who’s doing the collecting or of where it goes or how it’s used after that. But you can 100% choose what kind of a data trail you want to leave. While the legality of living under an assumed name or working with fraudulent identifying numbers, etc is clearly not in your favor, there is a great deal you can do to bury whatever data is being collected underneath a mountain of false leads, dead ends and red herrings. How serious you want to get with that sort of thing is of course its own issue. I find it’s mostly just easier to live the way I mean to live, as described in number 1 above. Doesn’t mean I don’t like to make things interesting though for anyone who may be watching. One of my operating principles in this area has been to create a trail so complex and convoluted that I’m literally the only person on earth who would be able to figure out what it all means or how it fits together - and even I can’t do that. That’s something these companies and agencies probably forget: it’s just life. It doesn’t necessarily have to make sense. Look at the Dada movement, the surrealists. Change the entire basis from which you’re living and making decisions, and freedom follows.
3. Leverage collective intelligence. As described in the NYT article above, these same technologies used for perfect surveillance also open up enticing new models of human behavior: the notion that you can work with other people to become more powerful than you would be on your own. Worried about surveilled as an individual? Make or join a group of like-minded souls. Form a club, form a corporation. Find out what your legal rights and privileges are, depending on what kind of legal organization you’re forming. Chances are, if you’re joining a group whose sole purpose is to avoid surveillance, that you’re going to 100% attract surveillance. But that’s the nature of the beast: it’s the Chinese finger trap, the double bind we currently live under as a culture. But my point is, there’s a lot more you can do as a group to protect your rights than you’ll ever be able to accomplish on your own. The best thing you can do, with or without technology, is to develop mutual trust networks made up of people you know and love and with whom you share the same goals and ideals.
4. Swap identities and trails. This is kind of a mixture of numbers 2 and 3 above, and is something I’m currently experimenting with on my Twitter account. The second I found out that I, as a user of that system, did not have the right to delete my account and all information associated with it, I realized I didn’t want to keep using it in the same way as I had been. So what I did was went in and modified my settings, skewed my profile, and then publicly posted an invitation (along with my password, “usafreedom”) to any other entity who wanted to come along and take over the account. What benefit does this have for me or for the entity which took over my account? Right now, I have no idea. But the point is that I hit in the system what was supposed to be a dead end, the technical inability for a user to delete their account, and found a way to circumvent it by playing outside of the rule-set altogether: giving away freely what I was once trying to monopolize (part of an online identity of persona). This subject has a LOT of different ways it could pan out along the subjects of identity theft and identity management. I’ve only really begun to explore…
5. Monetize surveillance data. This one I’ve been thinking of for quite a while now. Figuring out how to embed opportunities to make money via surveillance streams and data which is collected about you. For me, I use AdSense and Text-Link-Ads to monetize the almost 7,000 strong articles I’ve published on this domain over the course of almost six years. I don’t make a ton of money off it, but I make more money by intentionally pooling together data about and by myself and then actively figuring out licensing and monetization strategies than would someone who sits back and just lets someone else do the sorting and data collection. In effect, I am essentially surveilling myself and sharing the results publicly using a simple scheme to financially benefit off it. This, to me, is probably the area with the most promise (although I recommend a mixed strategy as being best in just about all areas of life). Simply because, we’re not going to stop surveillance data being collected about us. The use of technology in those directions is inexorable. So what you have to do when the wave is rising is get up there on your surfboard and hang-ten. Figure out how to go with the flow, and carve off whatever you need and want, whatever seems fair compensation for your efforts as a Free and Beautiful Human Being, and make it happen. Find or invent the technology which will help you make money off being watched constantly. Turn it into a corporation, sell your products and services. It’s the American Dream after all!
6. Use old technology. If a bunch of surveillance technology is being given away for free, simply don’t use it. Revert to systems and methods which aren’t centrally-managed and collected and which can’t be digitally and/or electronically organized, sorted and scanned. Or at least which require an intermediate step (or several) before they can be added into your official data trail. Hard copies hand-delivered. Tapes and disks in formats nobody uses anymore except for you and your friends. Like anything, they’re still susceptible to interception, but it takes a lot more work in the real world (as opposed to online) to get them and locate the technology to unlock whatever information it contains. PS. This is a great method to use in tandem with the “red herring” - require lots of effort and work to “unlock” something which essentially has no secrets and no actionable information…
7. Relax. Smile. The world is changing so quickly in so many ways right now that there’s literally no telling what’s going to happen next. Other bigger more important issues may come up which will eclipse all this bullshit. And paradigms like Transhumanism will undoubtedly morph as technology advances which will make our current thinking on the “dangers” of surveillance seem quaint and ridiculous. Keep your cool. Keep your wits about you. Be smart. Be brave. Love others and at least you’ll die free if nothing else…

At the end of the day, I don’t want to come off as alarmist though. I’m personally way past that. There’s no point in sitting back and obsessing over something that’s just going to make you paranoid and crazy. That’s why I recommend taking an active look first at your life and what you’re doing, and then figuring out how to adapt to the direction the world seems to be headed. There’s nothing scary or dangerous about observing the world around you and making modifications to your behavior accordingly in order to achieve and maintain the kind of lifestyle you deserve.