“Innocence Under Surveillance” – A Short Story
The Moral Dilemma of Facial Recognition Technology CONTINUED
The year is 2083. Technological advancements have seemed to overtake developed countries, for better or for worse, and in this new age of computers, every inch of every city is watched by the unblinking eyes of facial recognition technology. The promise of safety and efficiency has given way to a reality where privacy is a mere relic of the past, and freedom a concept too nebulous to grasp. For the innocent, life seems safer, almost normal, despite their cities being ensnared in a web of surveillance. Facial recognition systems have become the iron fists of justice – a system so precise that it can pick a face out of a sea of millions with unnerving accuracy. But beneath the veil of safety lies a dark truth: the system is flawed, and innocent lives are at risk of its unforgiving grip.
Zoe learns this truth the hard way. A hard working real estate agent from San Francisco, Zoe’s life is simple and pure. She is a rule-follower, a do-gooder, and a force to be reckoned with in her line of work. As she is walking home from her latest showing, giddy from her most recent sale, her face, or rather one alarmingly similar to her own, flashes across the city’s enormous digital billboards. “WANTED: For theft and assault,” the caption read, alongside a reward that would tempt even the most loyal friend to betrayal. But Zoe has committed no crimes, not even one as simple as littering.
The thought that she is being mistaken for someone else was a disturbing realization. In this advanced society, the surveillance systems do not wait for explanations, let alone accept them. Guilty upon recognition could be the city’s motto. The streets, once a dauntless place for Zoe, is now a maze of danger. With camera’s lurking on every corner, with each step, Zoe risks being captured by the relentless drones that patrol the sky.
Her first instinct is to run home, shielding her face, but she quickly dismisses the thought. Her apartment is the first place authorities would come looking, and she has little faith in her roommate's ability to overlook the hefty reward for her capture. Instead, she ducks into the shadows, utilizing the city’s old alleyways, now almost desolate, where the camera’s gaze is slightly less penetrating. Amongst the forgotten, Zoe finds an uneasy refuge.
Zoe attempts to seek out the hackers, the self proclaimed Computer Kids, an underground network rumored to have the skills to outwit the intense surveillance systems. It’s a risk, trusting strangers when every stranger could turn out to be an informant, but Zoe has no other options. She is alone in this city. The Computer Kids listen to her story, and slowly their skepticism turns to interest, as they explain they've heard similar stories before. Lives ruined by a system that cannot admit to its imperfections.
Together, they hatch a plan to hack into the city’s surveillance system and insert a seed of doubt into the evidence against Zoe, or her doppelganger, whoever the person on the billboards really is. They wait a few days to perfect their plan, and the night of the operation is fraught with tension. Zoe watches as the Computer Kids breach the city's digital defenses from their safe house, code cascading down the screens. They are successful in planting the seed of doubt, evidence of the system's error in confusing Zoe with the real criminal.
Suddenly it's clear, the victory is short-lived. The Computer Kid’s safehouse has been exposed by their breach, and the authorities rush in, doubling down, unwilling to admit the flaw in their perfect system. Zoe and all the Computer Kids are arrested, and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. They suddenly realize how great this issue is, and how the authorities manage to cover up their countless mistakes and maintain a facade of perfect safety in their city.
In this world where technology promises utopia, the secret reality is far more dystopian. Innocence has become a liability, and the truth is as elusive as the shadows that many are forced to hide in. For those like Zoe, caught in the crosshairs of a flawed justice, the fight for freedom is endless and insurmountable.
