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We are at the very beginning of surveillance technology. Like it or not, in a very few years, we are going to be on video pretty much everywhere we go. Already you see videocams at traffic intersections, in shopping areas, in banks and they will soon be just about everywhere else.

What is different this time is that mass storage capabilities will allow all these images to be stored where they can be indexed and retrieved years later. Technology that can identify faces by assigning a unique code to every human face is very near to reality. All the computers have to do is match up this code to a name.

So for example, let's say Joe Blow gets pinched in Lincoln, NE for shoplifting at a Wal-Mart 10 years from now. Using technology that will be common by then, Joe's face will be scanned in at the police department to obtain his unique "facial code." The police will then do a search of every digital video on file across the nation. All across the country, computers will whir and within seconds, the Lincoln police departments gets 78 "hits" on Joe Blow. The footage is then e-mailed to them instantly and they identify from those 78 video clips seventeen additional cases of shoplifting.

So now our Joe Blow is looking at some very serious jailtime. And when he get out of jail, he'll probably want to have somebody else do his shopping for him. Because every store he enters, silent alarms will go off and security cams will closely monitor his entire visit, with security people ready to close in if necessary. For Joe's facial code has now been "flagged" as a known shoplifter and with a record like Joe's, no retail store will let him enter their store without putting a microscope on him.

This is just a preview of our future. Many good things will come of it but on the other hand, privacy no longer exists. Not only will the government be able to track your every move but so will any corporate entity with access to the national files.