Please see source material below for additional details on this important aspect of the 5G conversation.
1. The Internet of Things
As if all the rest of this were not enough, 5G and the “Internet of Things” (IoT) is a wide open invitation to undermine our personal securities and privacy. For those not familiar, the IoT proposes the next level of digital connectivity and is set to create a network of “smart” devices consisting of anything and everything that can be chipped and plugged in. In his now infamous speech then FCC Chairman, Thomas Wheeler, is quoted as saying: “Yes, 5G will connect the Internet of Everything. If something can be connected, it will be connected in a 5G world. But with the predictions of hundreds of billions of microchip enabled products from pill bottles to plant waterers, you can be sure of only one thing: the biggest [IoT] has yet to be imagined.”
Every connected device will be, by design, a data sending and receiving device. This creates the ability to collect vital private information, even as “smart devices” such as phones, TVs, and cars, gather information from us now.
Who will own all the data in the IoT? Who receives this data and what is it used for? This is uncertain. But surely the answer is complex and will become more so as billions of chipped items begin to go online. These devices will be marketed on the basis of providing great convenience. However, every time we accept such a device into our life, we are signing over a measure of our security and our privacy to many interested parties.
2. Data is the New Oil
Many analysts are now saying, “data is the new oil”. The expense of setting up 5G infrastructure with its small cell deployment every 500-900 feet apart, across most of the world, will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The industry cannot make this amount of money back from end users downloading videos at higher speeds than before. A likely means of recouping this money is in the collection and sale of personal data. Everything connected to the “Internet of Things” will involve data transfer and this can be monetized in many ways. The consumer is the product and our data will be exploited for a profit… unless we opt out.
3. Enhanced Surveillance
Also made possible by 5G and advanced artificial intelligence (AI) is profoundly enhanced surveillance capability. This is being rolled out in cities in China and included massive numbers of cameras equipped with facial, behavioral, and biometric recognition capabilities feeding into central computers. This data effectively tracks nearly all civilian activity and integrated with the “social credit system”. This application of 4G/5G connectivity dangerously supports authoritarian government behavior. Once such infrastructure is in place, it becomes an easy path to implement more and more draconian control systems, even in “democratic” societies. China is now actively exporting this technology. Here is a short PBS clip on China’s spreading technological authoritarianism
In some Chinese cities, the collection of information via 5G / IoT is then made assessable through Database Integration where any information about a person points to the rest of the information stored about that person. For instance, an identification made through facial recognition will bring up a person’s driving record, education, health information, anything that is known about that person. And remember, that information is being recorded by every connected device a person owns – phones, smart TVs, Alexa, smart cars, toys, tablets, etc. This integrated system is being called Full Spectrum Surveillance.
4. Little to No Regulation on 5G Technology
Later in his 5G speech (linked above), Thomas Wheeler said, “Rule number one is that the technology should drive the policy rather than the policy drive the technology… we do not believe that we should spend the next couple of years studying what 5G should be, how it should operate, and how to allocate [frequency] spectrum… We won’t wait for the standards to be first developed in the sometimes arduous standards setting process or in a government led activity.”
This attitude of the FCC, the federal agency tasked with regulating the Telecom industry, leaves the door wide open for corporations to do as they please, with seemingly no consideration for ethical principles or safety issues. The social ramifications here are profound. Is this really the world we want to live in and leave to our children?
5. Wireless Hacking Made Easy
Wireless transmissions are far easier to hack into than are wired connections. In a 5G / IoT world, the ability for one’s information to be stolen or for their items, even door locks, to be compromised is far greater. Advanced Database Integration increases the risks of such illegal hacking.
6. Vulnerability to System Failures
As our world becomes ever more computerized and connected via microchips to the internet, it also becomes more susceptible to system failures. In the event of a natural or planned power outage, server viruses, hacking, electromagnetic pulses, etc., an overly digital society rapidly loses its ability to function. Human skill sets begin to atrophy the more we rely on the convenience of driverless vehicles and networked everything, and our culture becomes even more reliant upon centralized control grids than it is already. All of this is very artificial and makes us more vulnerable to both natural disasters and human corruption.
7. 5G Will Impact Property Values
There is increasing discussion about property values declining due to the placement of 5G base stations. People tend to avoid homes near cell towers and this will likely extend to 5G base stations as well. If a 5G base station is placed just outside a residence on a light post or similar, it is estimated that it could affect the value of that home by tens of thousands of dollars or more. (see link below) This may result in many home owners losing property value through no fault of their own and with little legal recourse as the relevant laws have been structured to serve the industry, not the individual.
8. Problems with Weather Prediction
Finally both NOAH and NASA are expressing concern that the frequencies used by 5G will interfere with our current weather prediction technology. It is believed that important data gathering on both ordinary weather patterns as well as early warning for weather emergencies will be compromised by 5G activity.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
1. Internet of Things Device Hacking
2. Cell Phone Security
3. More on Cell Phone Security – Also scroll down for the excellent NYT series: One Nation Tracked
4. 5G and Property Values
5. 5G Antenna Placement (free login account required)
6. NOAA and NASA Warns 5G Technology Will Disrupt Weather Prediction
7. See also Edward Snowden’s excellent work on data collection HERE and elsewhere.