The path that I see being taken in many countries with regards to surveillance and privacy is freaking me out right now! It feels like major government overreach, like we have tipped the scale into dystopia. The introduction of laws around digital ID and age verification, and against encryption are the front of it, but for me it goes so much deeper.
I see these laws as poorly veiled mass surveillance and tracking, as do many many others, as well as control. Here in Australia, under 16s will not be able to use social media come December 10th. Neither will anybody that cares about their privacy. I could sit around and say "That doesn't affect me! I don't use social media!" but it does. It affects me because it limits my choice and freedom. If I did have some reason or need to use Instagram, per se, I would have to choose between sacrificing my privacy and possibly safety (see Discord's massive data breach) or missing out on whatever opportunity I have. Plus, I do use the internet more broadly. This law sets a new normal, and makes it much more likely that other things will be taken away. Look at Texas or Utah or Louisiana, who all plan to make digital ID necessary for any app store app.
The world has progressed to a point where it is almost impossible to go through daily life without a smart phone loaded with apps. I've seen a laundromat that needs an app to be able to be used. Imagine a world where you had to hand over your ID to dry your clothes. This blocks a massive chunk of people completely out of society as we know it. So many people (11% of US adults last I checked) do not have ID that would be valid for age verification even if they wanted to. Add onto this people travelling from overseas, and undocumented people.
Not only is this all not protecting children, but it is actually harming them. Take this little scenario; a 15 year old is in an unsafe home, and we have both a social media ban and a 'parents have to allow downloading of apps' situation. If this kid is in real danger and leaves, even if they buy a new phone, there is nothing that can be done to get them a bank app, a maps app, anything. They are kind of forced into staying in the unsafe place or have even more barriers to getting out. Parents also lose their ability to parent with these rules. They cannot just trust their children to be good about things. The government in its attempt at overreach are forcing parents into overreaching too. PLUS it takes away the parents' privacy! It forces parents to give up their ID to allow their children to do anything at all, even if they don't want a phone themselves.
Going even further, into something that I don't know so much about, the whole Flock AI Surveillance Camera Everywhere Automatic Licence Plate Reader Facial Recognition thing terrifies me. I don't want every single part of my life to be tracked and pieced together. One corrupt or dangerous person with access to all this stuff = murder stalker. Not a fan, freaks me out, and I don't want to be sold. Yuck!