What happens when you are un-personed or un-placed from the synthetic spacial world?
Do you cease to exist if you’re removed from the digital parallel universe?
Today’s signal looks at how Google Maps has de-placed some crime hotspots - by hiding them from map results. This, in response to tourists happily following Maps’ most convenient rounds, right into dangerous areas - falling victim to crimes - and then suing Google for pointing them to their perpetrators. Understandable!
It also begs the questions - what about people who live in these de-placed spaces? Being made invisible to the spacial world, disconnected from digital day to day reality has consequences for navigation and being found by retailers and emergency services. And what about the businesses that operate in these new “dark spots”? - Residents and entrepreneurs in marginalised crime hot spots are already at an economic disadvantage- being effectively disappeared from digital world discovery has got to hurt bottom lines.
And what does this have to say about the future of digital identity? If you are not recognised as a person or place in the digital realm, how does this affected your real “meat space” rights?
And who should get to decide who gets to be part of the synthetic spacial world and who should be excluded? Platforms? Users? Governments?
Read more :
Invisible cities : https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/515099-google-maps-will-dodge-south-africas-crime-hotspots.html/amp
Un-placed people & digital dark spots