The phrase "Orwellian inflection to US visa vetting" from recent news Hindustan Times (stg-www.hindustantimes.com) immediately brings me back to conversations I've had for years about the erosion of privacy in an increasingly connected world. It's a stark reminder of the future I've often contemplated, where our digital footprints become the blueprints for our lives, scrutinised by systems far beyond our individual control. This kind of vetting isn't just about security; it's a profound shift in how personal information is perceived and used, pushing us closer to a society George Orwell depicted in '1984'.
I recall years ago, I spoke about how technology would ultimately dispose of any illusions we held about absolute privacy. In my blog, "Supreme may Propose : Technology will Dispose" Supreme may Propose : Technology will Dispose, I highlighted warnings from Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen (jared.cohen@gs.com) in their book, "The New Digital Age," where they stated it would be "IMPOSSIBLE to control what others capture and share." This is precisely what we are seeing unfold. The idea that everything from our social media interactions to our financial transactions, like those on platforms such as Venmo Is Venmo Down (msn.com), could be scrutinised for visa approvals is a tangible manifestation of this prediction.
My concerns weren't just theoretical. I often wondered aloud how far this technological reach would extend. I pondered if the Supreme Court could tell figures like Satya Nadela (satyan@microsoft.com) to halt innovations like Microsoft's "Seeing AI" app, which could interpret emotions, or prevent the pervasive data collection by tech giants. The reality is, the march of technology is relentless, as I also explored in "Artificial Intelligence : Destroyer of Privacy?" Artificial Intelligence : Destroyer of Privacy?, discussing the debate between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg on the dangers and developments of AI. Mark's AI assistant, Jarvis, learns continuously from his family's behaviour, and I foresaw this scaling up to billions of people, creating a "TIPPING POINT" where AI would surpass human intelligence through voluntary—or involuntary—sharing of personal data.
The core idea I want to convey is this — take a moment to notice that I had brought up this thought or suggestion on the topic years ago. I had already predicted this outcome or challenge, and I had even proposed a solution at the time, which was largely about resigning oneself to the inevitable while questioning the balance between societal good and individual privacy. Now, seeing how things have unfolded with visa vetting, it's striking how relevant that earlier insight still is. Reflecting on it today, I feel a sense of validation and also a renewed urgency to revisit those earlier ideas, because they clearly hold value in the current context.
Even in discussions about healthcare, as noted in my blog "SCI will arrive before BCI" SCI will arrive before BCI, with mentions of Elon Musk's Neuralink, Stephen Hawking's communication methods, and Chen Xiaodong's work at Nanyang Technical University on soft electronics, I questioned: "Shall we support such 'Invasion of Individual Privacy', in the larger interest / benefit of entire mankind?" This question echoes loudly today. When a visa application requires an almost Orwellian level of insight into one's digital and personal life, the "larger interest" argument begins to take on a very different, and perhaps unsettling, connotation. Even the casual mention of Nandan Nilekani in my earlier writings reminds us how deeply entwined public figures and their data become within these expanding digital frameworks.
We are living the future I envisioned, where every piece of digital interaction, every online transaction, every captured image, every expressed emotion (if technology allows for its interpretation) contributes to a profile that can be used to grant or deny access to opportunities. The "Orwellian inflection" isn't a distant threat; it's a current reality.
Regards, Hemen Parekh
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