
Ask HN: Becoming a post-prohibition, post-privacy, trust-driven world - miguelrochefort
In just a few years, every house will be equipped with tools that will allow people to create&#x2F;print almost anything:<p>- You&#x27;ll be able to print your own weapons, including guns, bombs, poisons and even viruses.<p>- You&#x27;ll be able to print your own drugs, including prohibited ones.<p>- You&#x27;ll be able to create fake evidence (signatures, finger prints, photos, audio clips, video clips) that will be indistinguishable from real ones.<p>It is clear that our system wasn&#x27;t designed to be compatible with these new realities. The following strategies will be deeply challenged:<p>- Prohibition. It will no longer be effective, as anyone will have access to anything. The list of prohibited weapons and substances will never be up to date as new ones will be invented daily.<p>- Trust. We will no longer be able to take evidence, measurements, research or news at face value. We&#x27;ll need to accept the fact that we&#x27;re always dealing with information that could be fake. We&#x27;ll need to rely on trust, more than we ever did before. This will demand new strategies, in order to qualify and quantify trust. Some kind of social score or currency.<p>- Privacy. Information is easier and cheaper to share than to conceal. Everyone will eventually have access to camera drones the size of a fly. Anyone will be able to produce fake data&#x2F;footprint about anyone. We&#x27;re no longer safe from judgement even if we manage to keep everything secret. We&#x27;re more likely to be trusted if were known to be transparent as opposed to secretive. People will eventually realize the negative effect of privacy, and become more transparent. Those who fail to adapt will be miserable.<p>What can we do today to ease the transition to a post-prohibition, post-privacy, trust-driven world?
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Tepix
I don't think it will be a quick transition in "just a few years". There will
be a lot of kicking and screaming. Look at what is happening to quadcopters:
Lots of regulation, mandatory registrations, no-fly-zones in firmware.

It will eventually be similar for 3d printers and nano-assemblers.

Knowledgeable people will know how to bypass these restrictions, just as it is
today. The main difference will be that it will probably get easier.

Regarding privacy, I disagree with your conclusion. I think as people become
more aware of the importance of their dwindling privacy they will pay more
attention to it and protect it. Perhaps I'm just overly optimistic.

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miguelrochefort
> Regarding privacy, I disagree with your conclusion. I think as people become
> more aware of the importance of their dwindling privacy they will pay more
> attention to it and protect it. Perhaps I'm just overly optimistic.

To believe that we'll still be forced to rely on privacy in the future is
fairly pessimistic.

