We're Listening

While traditional police states are known for never making mistakes, the developing technological surveillance state may yet take a fuzzier approach. Policing in comparatively free societies relies a good deal on non-culpable individuals committing mistakes anyone could have made; as when accidental fatal shootings are followed by innocent yet systematic defamation of the victims, or when undercover officers wake up one morning and find they have been careless enough to fall into bed with a political protester. Not yet aspiring to the rough-and-tumble glamour of the Metropolitan Police, Google has so far confined itself to putting hidden microphones into home security systems. The company did not trouble to mention them in the specifications; their presence was revealed only with the announcement of an upgrade involving voice activation. Naturally, the microphones are switched off by default; but it can only be a matter of time and customer service before the converse arrangement becomes standard, and the episode will doubtless be seen in the appropriate quarters as an encouraging demonstration of the potential for future progress in policing by mistake.