Civic Hygiene – avoid building technologies that could be used by a police state (2013)
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Building databases that can be misused by future governments threatens civic hygiene.
Eden argues that surveillance infrastructure built today-like ISP 'black boxes' tracking clicks or NHS data sold to private parties-can be turned against citizens by a future hostile government. He illustrates with a scenario where a government collects sexual orientation data for planning, then a homophobic party wins and uses it for harassment. Citing Bruce Schneier, he warns that even well-intentioned data collection can facilitate a police state. The core principle: trust not the current government but the next one.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split into two camps: those arguing that dual-use inevitability makes resistance futile, and those insisting engineers must take responsibility. A top comment notes capitalism doesn't require democracy, pointing to Singapore. Another commenter shares that their game telemetry was used to improve artillery, showing unintended military applications. Several discuss license restrictions, with most agreeing they're unenforceable against governments. A veteran argues for prioritizing peace-making over enabling violence.