In a blog post about the PRISM surveillance program, TNP says that 'The military have unmanned drones ready. So, it’s only a matter of time before the complex, confused and compromised issue of human agency is removed completely.'
I can't help but think of other ways in which this case can develop. For example, when you consider that it is becoming very hard to hide things online. Maybe it is not just harder for us, but also for governments. On the flip side of the coin to what TNP mentioned, consider the possibility of the NSA using the public to pick out the relevant data from the vast pool of intelligence. What would happen if the agency released that information into the hands of the american people? Sure, there is a lot of data, but there are also a huge crowd of americans with internet access and I will not be surprised if most of them want to live in safety. If the US government gave a few ground rules and monitored the proper conduct of participators as other online services do. It may be enough for such a system to work. I am not saying they should do it, but they could.
If enough individuals who are unhappy and worried about their government's actions publish their opinion online, it could make them look very suspicious, and possibly weak for not having the support of it's citizens. I can imagine that a government, subjected to globally visible criticism, such as the US would prefer to avoid so much negative publicity.
If a system, meant to look after my safety, was completely automated I would feel a bit worried. I would rather know that a system with a diverse and large amount of human supervision was doing that job. Furthermore, I would like to have access to my personal data gathered by it, and be a part of the monitoring scheme if I wanted too. To give a moment of my time to possibly maintain everyone safety and in exchange be able to control and see what I look like in the eyes of the system seems a potentially good bargain, considering the alternative.
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