Britain's surveillance push: How iris scanning and digital IDs are sold as child safety measures
By
Heather Burns
Summary
This article critiques the growing trend of using surveillance technology—specifically Worldcoin's iris-scanning orbs and digital identity verification—as a solution to online bot problems, arguing that Britain's political environment (under Keir Starmer's proposed under-16 social media ban and the Online Safety Act) is pushing society toward mandatory identity verification. Digital rights advocate Heather Burns connects this to Brexit's underlying theme of control, warning that surveillance is being sold as safety under the guise of protecting children.
Source
bskyBritain's surveillance push: How iris scanning and digital IDs are sold as child safety measuresthenerve.newsKey quotes
· 3 pulledResearchers Andreu Belsunces Gonçalves and Laura Forlano have a name for how a company sells something this strange as common sense – a 'sociotechnical fiction'.
To get people adopting the product, it was necessary to...
It is the natural conclusion of the Online Safety Act – and of a Brexit that was always about control, says digital rights advocate Heather Burns
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