Remembering the Industrial Revolution
the information age replays an old pattern: growth, dark side, then safeguards
ERA 1 · INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
GROWTH
technology advances
agricultural surplus
urbanization
DARK SIDE
air + water pollution
squalor, disease
child labor
SAFEGUARDS
environmental protection
workplace safety laws
child-labor + food laws
time →
BRUCE SCHNEIER · DATA AS POLLUTION
“Data is the pollution problem of the information age,
and protecting privacy is the environmental challenge.”
ERA 2 · INFORMATION AGE
GROWTH
internet scale
cheap storage
automation
DARK SIDE
mass data extraction
surveillance
discrimination
SAFEGUARDS NEEDED
minimization, retention limits
GDPR-style consent
culture shift
time →
growth
dark side
safeguards
sequence
not yet won (dashed)
growth concentrates power → harms surface → society demands safeguards
the information age is still negotiating its safeguards