Dear Editor,

Just what we needed. This phenomenon may not be happening here yet, and may not ever, but I just heard about it, and it magnifies my concern over the artificial internet taking over our lives bit by bit. 

You may have heard of dynamic pricing, where prices change depending on various market factors. Let me introduce you to surveillance pricing, which has been introduced in some big box stores and online. The prices of goods on the shelf are not static; they can be varied on demand, when someone with the right internet profile passes near the shelves. 

The phone in your pocket tells the tag how much you can spend, based upon data compiled in a data centre, telling who you are, where you live, what you’ve bought recently, what your political views, marital status, etc. The “freedom” to be connected at all times works both ways. The apps you download to interact with your friends also tell the tech bros just how closely you can be fleeced at this time. 

My bank has recently mandated two-step verification to do online banking. “It’s for your protection, against identity theft” is the official corporate reason.  I don’t feel a bit safer for it, but I do feel inconvenienced, for no good reason. The result is that it’s more convenient for me to walk over to the bank, where the friendly tellers will take care of my banking needs, and recognize me by my actual face, with only one card and one password necessary. That works for me, here and now, but how long will that last? 

Brave new world, folks, where real people are anachronisms. Take your place amongst the exhibits in the Museum of Human History.  

Robert Wills, Thorne and Shawville