> They will be mandatory ... have one on you at all times under severe penalty of law.
Sadly, that's not even necessary.
1) Make life enormously inconvenient for those who don't have them. (When was the last time you saw a pay phone? And how many services require confirmation of identity by a text message? Can't do that with an ordinary landline.)
2) Make them so cheap anyone can afford one. I paid about $50 for my current phone. It's a clam shell model, no apps, just talk and text. Screw the apps. I'll be damned if I'm paying hundreds of bucks for a bloody telephone.
3) Slip some language into the enormously long user agreement which nobody ever reads, that the carrier will share all data with law enforcement and other authorities upon request.
4) Load the average device with all sorts of cool apps, distraction enough that users don't think about their privacy.
And there you have it. Mass monitoring of citizens. Most people carry devices which track their location and can be remotely used as microphones by the government without a warrant. America, the land of the free, in the year 2021.
I bought a cell phone because of #1. I also have a Faraday bag and use it.
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AnubisRaydeen (7897)
4 years ago
All true. And in 2041, the people who are fed up with this list and seek to live away from it will be compelled by dint of law. The pendulum has stopped swinging.
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BullSchmidt (3189)
4 years ago
> And in 2041, the people who are fed up with this list and seek to live away from it will be compelled by dint of law.
True. It's already getting there. It used to be that people who lived off the grid were celebrated by the mainstream media -- sure, they're a little eccentric, but what a marvelous way to live! Modern day Thoreaus in their Waldens! And so good for the environment!
That was back when they were mostly aging hippies. Now that more prepper types are going that route the narrative is a little different. A few years ago there were efforts to outlaw living off the grid in some jurisdictions, but as I recall those efforts didn't get very far. Expect our control freak masters to try again, though.
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