Digital ID – The New Chains of Capitalist Surveillance
10 hours ago
- #capitalism
- #digital ID
- #surveillance
- Digital ID systems are being globally implemented by governments and corporations, framed as tools for efficiency and convenience.
- Historically, identification has been a tool for state and capitalist control, from passports to colonial passbooks.
- Digital ID intensifies surveillance and control, reducing individuals to data streams for corporate profit.
- Digital ID gates access to essential services like healthcare, housing, and welfare, making life conditional on algorithmic verification.
- Examples like India's Aadhaar system show how digital ID excludes vulnerable populations, leading to real-world harm like starvation.
- Digital ID normalizes surveillance, embedding control into daily routines and eroding resistance to such measures.
- The state collaborates with corporations to develop digital ID infrastructure, merging governmental control with corporate profit motives.
- Resistance to digital ID requires collective action, exposing its harms, supporting affected communities, and disrupting surveillance infrastructure.
- Digital ID represents a new frontier in capitalist surveillance, deepening exploitation and exclusion under the guise of technological progress.