2026: Predictions for Digital Surveillance and Privacy
Now, surveillance is not an exception: it is society's operating system.
We are entering the era of inorganic intelligence, where algorithms don’t sleep, don’t forget, and know you better than you know yourself. And the scariest part: it wasn’t an invasion. It was a voluntary exchange. We traded privacy for convenience, security, and personalization, and no one wants to give it back.
Next is a quick map of the 5 big forces that will define privacy (or the lack thereof) in 2026, in my humble view.
🔍 The End of Anonymity
Digital anonymity is over, not because of your IP, but because of how you exist online.
In 2026, AI doesn’t need to know your name: it figures it out.
Your way of writing, typing, moving with your cell phone in your hand... all of this is a digital fingerprint. It’s already like this today.
And trying to hide it only makes it worse: algorithms detect “masked writing style” as a warning sign.
In practice: “disappearing from the internet” has become mathematically impossible for economically active people.
🧠 Biometric Psychographics: reading emotions has become a business
The human body has become a sensor. The face, the voice, the rhythm of fingers on the keyboard... everything is emotional data. Companies monitor focus, stress, mood, and even microexpressions in online meetings.
And the next step is already here: consumer neurotechnology, capable of inferring mental patterns via EEG from smart headphones and glasses.
The final frontier, the mind, is being pushed into the global data market. When we can read and write data in the human mind is where, in my view, we will achieve what is called AGI.
🎭 Deepfakes and the Crisis of Reality
With perfect deepfakes and bots conversing like humans, believing what we see or hear has become impossible.
Society’s response? Total verification.
The internet is migrating to a model where only those who prove they are human via biometrics can interact... but what if even biometrics is flawed? We’ve already seen several cases.
Here I think we will see a setback. Due to the difficulty in proving humanity digitally, many services will return to in-person operations.
Anonymity has become synonymous with “possible bot.” Whoever creates a startup for “Proof of Humanity” will gain a lot.
Welcome to the world of mandatory Proof of Humanity.
💸 Programmable Money: Financial Control 2.0
Central bank digital currencies cease to be “money” and become code.
money that expires if you don’t spend it
automatic limits for certain products
carbon quotas linked to consumption
absolute traceability
I see 2026 as a year for asset tokenization, and Blockchain as a mature structure could be the key.
🏛️ Invisible Digital Dictatorships
Power has migrated: governments depend on Big Tech, and Big Tech assumes government functions. Algorithms decide loans, investigations, hiring, benefits, and even predictive policing.
It is the era of the Platform-State.
And you, what do you see in 2026?
The same technology that surveils can protect.
ZKPs, strong encryption, neuro-rights, and algorithmic transparency are the latest trends.
Who will control the future? Imperfect humans or perfect algorithms?
The game is happening now. Privacy is not over, it is being renegotiated.