Civic Hygiene: Don't Build Tech That Could Enable a Police State

Civic Hygiene – avoid building technologies that could be used by a police state

In this thought-provoking piece, Terence Eden warns against creating technologies that could be easily misused by a future authoritarian government. Drawing on the example of a government database tracking citizens' sexuality, he argues that even well-intentioned data collection can become a tool of oppression if power changes hands. Citing Bruce Schneier's concept of 'civic hygiene,' Eden urges developers and policymakers to consider the potential for abuse in any system they build, emphasizing that we must not trust that the next government will be as benign as the current one.