FUTURE
What spy technology will be used 20 years from now?
DID YOU KNOW?
The UK Information Commissioner’s 2006 Report on the Surveillance Society suggests that in 2016 we’ll subscribe to personal information management services that monitor our “data shadows” online. Such a service would update any incorrect information stored in public or consumer databases and issue alerts if any data looked suspicious.
Some patients in the US are already having digital chips implanted in themselves. For around $200, a tiny RFID chip is injected under the skin. Its unique 16-digit number, which can be picked up by a standard RFID reader, enables healthcare professionals to obtain patient information from a secure online database.
The gadgets on display in OSTECK’s Future Lab have been specially created by product designers for The Science of Spying. Working with scientists, engineers and futurologists, we established a range of technology trends (listed opposite). The designers used these trends to imagine products of the future that might be used by spies or ordinary people. Some propose new technology directions; others use existing technology in new and different ways.
IN THE FUTURE…
…computing power, storage and sensors (including surveillance and tracking technology) will get so small as to be practically microscopic.
…we will be able to mount this technology in clothes, miniature flying vehicles and any number of other places.
…we will have increasing ability to implant digital technology into ourselves.
…our various digital identities will become increasingly important.
…we will use more biometrics – iris, fingerprint, maybe DNA – to access things.
…devices for tracking people and things will become more widely available.
…spying technologies will increasingly be available to the public as it gets cheaper and more widely available.
…RFID tags will replace barcodes on products but will also be used for tracking files, patients and many other things.
…computing power will be able to more effectively analyze images, text and phone calls as well as other data streams.
…computer scanners, databases and systems will increasingly make decisions previously made by humans (about who we are and what we are allowed to do).
Proceed to ESCAPE »
The Science of Spying, an exhibition from 
scienceof.com