The world is becoming increasingly transparent. Even now, no one can be sure that a particular action of theirs won’t surface in the public space shortly. Surveillance technologies are constantly improving. One needs a decent knowledge of computer technology to avoid leaving a vivid digital footprint while surfing the internet or traveling in the real world. In the future, the required qualification for maintaining privacy will only increase, and eventually, even such a foolproof method as diving headfirst under a blanket will stop saving you: they will see you under the blanket too.

It is becoming increasingly difficult with the privacy of monetary transactions. One can argue for a long time about whether a quantum computer will crack the asymmetric encryption used by Bitcoin, but what is the point of even the most reliable encryption if advanced surveillance technologies allow anyone to peek at your private key—you have to store it somewhere, after all.

So, it would be entirely appropriate to think in advance about how to live in this brave new world, where no one is able to hide anything from anyone.

I believe that in such a world, the most reliable way of ensuring one’s identity will be continuity. Let me explain. For instance, I have Bitcoin, and theoretically, anyone can transfer this Bitcoin from my wallet to their own. And I could, at any moment, transfer someone else’s to myself. For money to be preserved as a concept under these conditions, I myself would need to be completely digitized and entered into the blockchain. On what basis do I claim the Bitcoin? On the basis that I sold an apartment. And where is the proof that I sold my apartment and not someone else’s? Well, I can present a continuous chain of events of my life back in time, from the sale of the apartment to its acquisition, during which the apartment did not change owners. And if, during this period, a third party generated my signature on a fictitious sales contract, anyone can trace the chain of events back in time from the signature on the contract to the criminal intent, and it will turn out that at no point during this time interval did I give instructions to sell my apartment, meaning the transaction will not take place.

If everything and everyone is recorded, then everything is fine; one can live in this world, and even quite well—specifically, a bunch of stupid prejudices will die out. What one should fear is information asymmetry, where some can monitor everyone, while others are limited in such means. This is exactly what would mean total lawlessness: when according to all documents and video recordings you are living a happy life, but in fact, you were killed long ago.

This post turned out to be atypical. Thanks to Karambe from the cozy chat for prompting these strange thoughts.