TwinWorld - simulation theory
Cookies. Remember me. Keep me logged in. There are dozens of mechanisms that many of us use to save time and make our experience of surfing the web easier and smoother. Some of these mechanisms are fairly innocuous and the data that is provided by the user of little consequence. There are however some that provide a little too much knowledge to "the web" and that result in you seeing adverts for paddling pools in your Twitter feed after chatting to a friend on Facebook about the hot weather.
There aren't many who relish the concept of their every move being tracked and while there has been legislation laid down requiring websites to present users with the option for turning cookies off and adding "do not track" buttons on browsers, these often require so many extra clicks to get to the "off" button, that many cannot be bothered to go through effort.
Tracking is not just limited to our activities on the web though, with the networks of surveillance cameras throughout the world many of our day to day activities are being recorded - and have been for years. Transport ticketing systems, credit card payments and even dinner reservations all expose our whereabouts as we go about our daily lives.
It is our smart phones though, that hold the greatest power when it comes to tracking. They stay with us everywhere we go and are by our sides nearly 24 hours a day. They know where we sleep, work, go to for lunch and can run hundreds of apps that ping our location to servers and services all across the world. We hope this data is being used for the explicit service that each app provides, but then who has time to read the full EULA anyway…?
Today, we are on the cusp of rolling out government controlled "track and trace" apps, all for the purposes of "keeping us safe" and helping us get "back to normal", but the worry is that once this type of system is adopted by the masses it will be very easy for such a system to be exploited "for our own good" and kept in place long after its initial application is no longer relevant.
It takes only a slight change to those user agreements and a quick swipe-left for the data provided about our location [and potentially other, more personal information] to be shared with thousands of providers falling under the umbrella of "affiliated organisations" or "3rd party providers".
So where could this ultimately leave us? In the most "Black Mirror" version of this scenario, the state could create partnerships with all tracking technologies, make it a requirement of trading in the country and connect all systems into an aggregator that would provide everything required for "TwinWorld".
TwinWorld - not to be confused with the video game from 1989 - is a computer simulation, running in real time that geo-locates every individual to their current real-world location. It uses avatars made up from each user's social media information and tagged photos, with mapping of terrain from satellite images the administrators are even able to don a virtual reality module and observe activity in TW at street-level.
Under the auspices of "citizen protection", everyone is being tracked to ensure they are safe. Medical emergencies no longer require a call to the ambulance services, as TwinWorld has already dispatched the relevant team to be on site [in the real world] immediately.
Mass gatherings are anticipated well in advance and the appropriate "peace forces" dispatched to ensure everyone has a satisfactory experience and with data modelling, everyone's actions become predictable, allowing for the café to order only the exact number of muffins they are going to sell today - winning all the sustainability votes.
Most importantly is the ability to identify anomalies, uncharacteristic behaviour, when people start going to places they don’t usually go or spending a lot of time in places they haven't been to in the past. All of this could flag the individual as someone "to watch" and could prevent major terrorist incidents, all thanks to the power of TwinWorld.
Back to the present day though. There have been high-profile cases of user data breaches such as the one Facebook had to weather during the last US elections, but just as quickly as people were to jump to condemn Facebook and Cambridge Analytica's actions, they were just as quick to jump back onto their Facebook accounts to complain about it.
If we want to be serious about our digital privacy and raise real concerns when systems such as TwinWorld are proposed we all have a duty to understand how and where this data could be compromised.
