Surveillance is not fundamentally different from information wanting to be free. The superficial difference is whether or not masses are willing to embrace and democratize it. If they aren’t, it remains the province of an “elite” who can use it on the masses for their supposed protection. A networked society does seem to naturally move towards having fewer and fewer secrets. What we are seeing is symptomatic of panic amongst those in hierarchies who have relied upon secrets for power over others, and they in turn both use surveillance as well as spreading fear of surveillance. Ultimately, the changes in society occur not with a camera in every house and alleyway, but with cameras in the police station, town hall, and boardrooms.
As for everybody else, people need to grow up and have some strength to their personal convictions. Not everybody needs to like or agree with how you live - they simply need to be aware that there are consequences to meddling in your life.
