"we continue to refer to it as the future"

Advances in biometric identification mean that while a device that can search out an individual by his or her brainwaves is not yet on the market (at least publicly), searching out a person by face or speech pattern is decidedly real. Furthermore, brain-computer interface devices (BCI) have been commercially available since at least 1999. So how far are we from the technological reality of a biometric tracking system hacking BCIs and tracking individuals? If we change the name to “brainwave keylogger”, it suddenly is less fantastic, and frighteningly plausible.

Submitted for your consideration: an entire list of surveillance concepts, proposed by science-fiction stories. Note the technologically real items: Augmented Reality, ubiquitous surveillance, drones, eavesdropping rays, and tracking systems. These are all things that we might call “cutting edge tech”, but indeed, certainly real tech. Surprise, shock, uncanniness, paranoia— yes, it is repeated enough to be cliche--the future is here.

But what is truly uncanny about our present “not-so-distant future”, is that we continue to refer to it as the future. There is no need to speculate. We have a fully evolved culture of surveillance technology in the United States. Here is another list: this time of non-fictional surveillance concepts. They from the slightly-troubling to the fully-horrifying, but they all are now employed by the government of the United States for the purposes of so-called “National Security”:

Palantir, No-Fly List, Full Body Scanners, “If you see something, say something”, Border Searches are Exempt from the 4th AmendmentStop and FriskNYPD spying on Muslims,TSA harassment of children, the elderlyDHS spying on activistsThat DHS existsFBI terrorism entrapmentDomestic Drone SurveillancePrivate PrisonsOver 1% of US Citizens in JailNational Security LettersFISC CourtsImmigration PolicyAbu-Ghraib Prison AbuseGuantanamo Prison CampExtraordinary RenditionTortureCodifying Indefinite DetentionFBI seeking backdoors in electronic communicationsICE raids on websitesIris scans of civil disobedience protestersWarrantless WiretapsRecorded FutureThe Domestic Communications Assistance Center

Read More | "On the Natural History of Surveillance" | Adam Rothstein | ?Rhizome