There was a time when if someone had a problem with you or something you did, they told you about it and you both dealt with whatever it was like adults. Then, as society progressed, people stopped being so blunt with each other and preferred the method of talking behind your back and having the problem eventually get back to you through some mutual friend or colleague. That was always a cause for concern, because now more people had been brought in on the situation, and news of the problem had spread outside of those directly involved.

These days, though, it’s gotten all the more worse, as people vent their frustrations in whole new ways, using whole new mediums that often times could have a lot more negative effects than talking behind your back ever could.

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It’s not been a good few months for the British royal family. Less-than-royally-dressed photos of Prince Harry and a female companion and a sun-bathing Duchess of Cambridge have put the royals in a rather embarrassing situation. Now, I’m not one to throw pity parties for the ridiculously rich and needlessly famous—that’s not a dig at the royals but at the “culture of celebrity” in Western society—but these are real people who, I am sure, are still capable of feeling shame, regret, and an overwhelming sense of having been violated.

To me, this all begs the question:

In a society saturated with cameras and camera-equipped devices, how long will it be until there’s no privacy left?

Just this evening, I saw this article about wearable cameras that photograph your entire life … and anyone unlucky enough to cross your path. Add to all of this the increasing use of drones by the US government and we might very well be under constant surveillance.

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