This article uses the world of Minority Report to explore the dangers of a surveillance society as technology advances. It discusses the potential for personal information to be collected and misused in exchange for convenience, the limitations of data leaks and surveillance systems, and questions whether this future is a good one.
You walk into a department store to buy a new pair of jeans. As you walk through the door, a small light flickers briefly, and a beautiful model appears on the screen in front of you, calling your name. “Welcome, are you here to buy a new pair of jeans?” The beautiful model recommends several pairs of jeans to you. Would you be happy to accept that information, saying that it was just what you needed? Or would you feel uncomfortable that someone already knows your every preference?
This is not just a futuristic scenario, it could be part of our daily lives if technological advancements continue. More and more technology is infiltrating our daily lives, and collecting and analyzing personal information is becoming a given. But is this technology always beneficial? We gain convenience in exchange for information, but we also lose a lot in the process.
You’re home late from a shopping trip and you’re about to collapse. A cold metal touch wakes you up. You wake up to find a grotesque spider-like robot holding your eyelids open with its tentacles. A camera on the robot’s back looks into your eyes, and a bland, mechanical voice says, “Thank you for your cooperation. “Thank you for your cooperation in the investigation.” It’s not until you watch the news in the morning that you realize there’s been a crime in your apartment. The police didn’t investigate because they only had your iris information and knew you were in the department store at the time of the incident. How do you feel about the fact that you weren’t called in to investigate because the police knew your location? You might feel relieved that you weren’t involved in the crime, but you might also feel unsettled that your information is so easily in the wrong hands.
The inhabitants of the Minority Report universe would take this for granted. In the year 2054, where Minority Report is set, companies and governments have a lot of information about you. When you walk down the street, you’ll see ads that recommend clothes based on your iris, and when you’re stopped and searched by the police, you’ll simply have to align your eyes with the camera. We all think these things are helpful. But does society’s observation of an individual really do him or her more harm than good? Beyond convenience, are we underestimating the side effects of monopolizing and misusing information?
The first problem is that individuals have a way of escaping surveillance in some way. The street vendor that John Anderton buys drugs from has had both of his eyes removed, and the curiosity of why such eyeless people exist is resolved midway through the movie. In order to get back into his old job at the Bureau of Crime Prevention and Investigation, John Anderton undergoes an illegal procedure that involves removing his own eyeballs and inserting those of others. The owners of the eyes used in the procedure are only given names, but they are likely drug dealers and other people in similar situations. John Anderton succeeds in disabling the iris recognition system that monitors him and sneaks in safely.
The same is true in the real world. Technologies like CCTV are used to track criminals, but they can also be evaded by simple things like using masks and hats to cover their faces. No matter how sophisticated surveillance technology becomes, there will always be attempts to evade it. What’s more, surveillance systems themselves can be abused for criminal purposes. The people who should be under surveillance will still be able to operate freely, and the innocent will be caught in the net, making us feel insecure.
The second problem is that even if the acquisition of such information is initially used for good, it is open to abuse by others. When John Anderton walks into a department store after getting his eyes replaced, the model in the ad mistakes him for someone else and says to him. “How did you like that tank top you bought the other day?” From this, we can infer that the previous owner of the eye wore a tank top and was probably a woman. Before John Anderton had his eye surgery, he was seeing a lot of ads for traveling, which suggests that he is an outgoing person who travels a lot. If you can see what ads someone else sees, you can get information about them that you can use to your advantage. For example, if a burglar knows that John Anderton travels a lot, they can target him and lurk around his house until he goes on a trip, increasing the chances of his house being burglarized.
Furthermore, if at some point this collection of information becomes independent of our choices or intentions, we will no longer live free lives. If people don’t know when and where they are being monitored, they will increasingly self-inhibit. This is the greatest psychological harm that a surveillance society can cause, ultimately leading to a reduction in autonomy.
The third problem is that aggregated information has the potential to be leaked. Although not depicted in the movie, there are many modern-day examples of well-known shopping sites, game servers, portal sites, and banks being hacked. It is not uncommon for sensitive information such as social security numbers, card details, and account information to fall into the hands of hackers. No matter how thoroughly you prepare for security, at the end of the day, people are in control of the technology, so there’s still a risk that your personal information could be compromised. The world of Minority Report seems to store a wide range of information that is unparalleled in modern times, so a hack would have far-reaching consequences. For example, if someone leaked a recording of the movie’s murder prediction of a husband who attempted to murder his wife’s cheating partner, he would have the means to blackmail her.
Because of these three problems, the idea of spying on individuals and storing that information to be used for crime prevention or advertising is likely to lose more than it gains. As technology advances, the ethical issues we face will only become more complex. These issues are unlikely to be fundamentally solved. This is because no technology is completely immune to abuse, and even if it is, it’s still human to use it, and there are still risks, such as traitors within. Technology is never neutral, and how we use it is entirely in our hands.
The inhabitants of the Minority Report world may have accepted the idea of giving their information to a company or country because they thought it would be more beneficial to them, or because they had no reason to object. However, the movie directly or indirectly exposed the problems and side effects. The lesson we can take away from this is that any technological attempts to obtain personal information should be avoided, even if they start with good intentions.
