Surveillance
It’s 12:35pm. The dinner bell rings. Somewhere in a secondary school in Sheffield, a Year 8 boy shuffles up to the lunch counter. He’s got three things on his mind: chips, avoiding eye contact with the maths teacher, and chips again. But before he can exchange a
Espionage
Once upon a time, spycraft was elegant. Picture a trench coat, a hollow brick wall, maybe a microdot hidden behind a postage stamp. You’d whisper secrets in a Vienna park, then melt into the fog like a mysterious bout of indigestion. It was classy, it was clever, and more
Surveillance
Remember when we thought academia was the conscience of society? The wise old owl watching over ethics while Silicon Valley played with its shiny new toys? Well, it turns out that owl was actually busy writing code to help cameras track your face across a crowded street. This week’s
Surveillance
It starts, as all minor dystopias do, with a coffee machine. A cheerful new addition to the warehouse break room, chrome finish, touch screen, responds to voice commands. “Flat white, extra hot,” says Lisa from loading. The machine chirps and whirs obediently. Somewhere in the fine print (a laminated A4
Surveillance
Ah, the future! It's bright, it's connected, and apparently, it involves a deep learning algorithm listening intently to your grandma's every cough, creak, and the subtle thud of her nightly glass of warm milk hitting the bedside table. I'm talking, of course,