Forget Gen Z. This Is Generation Surveillance.
The defining experience for generations to come will be knowing what it feels like to be constantly watched
What does it mean to have an unforgettable childhood — or an unforgettable life?
“First memories, forever.” That’s the promise of Babeyes, a product unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show. The idea is simple: Attach the Babeyes camera to your newborn or infant, and it will gather footage of the world from a baby’s point of view. “Thanks to Babeyes, all these moments, filled with love, will be watched later by the grown child, as if he remembered the scene,” the Babeyes site explains. Online reaction, however, was far less charitable. “Sci-fi dystopias are warnings not development road maps,” one Twitter user tweeted in response to an ad. “This is fucking creepy!” another declared.
But if a baby body camera feels like it’s a step too far now, will that always be the case?
From being the early test subjects of “sharenting”—the modern parental propensity for putting every moment of their child’s life on social media — to having smartphone apps that follow their every movement, Generation Z is the first to come of age in a world of total surveillance. Every generation that follows will inevitably know…
