Are We Ready for a World in Which Everyone Spies on Everyone Else?

Recent events have me rethinking the benefits of a fully transparent world, in which everyone electronically monitors everyone else. In 2010, I blogged about my hopes that “grassroots spying” could help us create a safer, more just society, in which citizens can spy on people in power rather than just vice versa. “Privacy is a small price to pay for peace and justice,” I wrote, “especially since we’re headed toward radical transparency anyway.” But the effects of greater transparency will be unpredictable, to say the least.