Richard Aldrich

Can we live without secrets?

‘In the world of 2030 there will be nowhere to hide. Everything we buy in a shop that costs more than 20 euros will contain a small computer. Our shoes will tell us how far we have walked today. Our handbag will tell us if we need to buy milk. We will inhabit the “Internet of Things”. Everything around us will be intelligent – and everything will be watching us.’

The prediction comes from Richard J. Aldrich, Professor of International Security at the University of Warwick. His main research interests lie in the area of intelligence and security communities. He also maintains related interests in issues of cyber security, liberty and privacy, set against a background of accelerating globalization.

‘Already today, it is not the intelligence agencies that are most knowledgeable about us", Richard says."It's the internet companiers supermarkets, airlines, and banks".

The bad news is that privacy is dying. But the good news is that there will also be no secrets. After Edward Snowden the next whistleblowers are already getting ready to reveal much more. In the future, citizens will have no privacy, but governments will no longer be able to hide their secret prisons and corporations will no longer be able to hide their unpaid taxes.’