"California Uber Alles" warned us about creeping authoritarianism in the Golden State. Now, nearly 45 years after Dead Kennedys' dystopian vision, California leads the newmtotalitarian charge: demanding citizens prove their identity just to buy face cream containing Vitamin A or alpha hydroxy acids.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports that California's proposed AB-728 would make buying basic skincare products as scrutinized as purchasing alcohol. New York's A3323 bill demands dating app users submit government IDs and location data before swiping right. Washington state's SB 5622 requires intrusive personal data collection just to purchase diet pills. Jello Biafra's nightmare of "zen fascists" controlling daily life seems almost quaint compared to this digital surveillance state.
This mission creep was carefully orchestrated. As one Alabama lawmaker candidly admitted, porn restrictions were just the beginning: "Take first one bite at it through pornography, and the next session, once that got passed, then go and work on the social media issue." Whether through credit card verification, government IDs, or facial scans, each new system creates another database of sensitive personal information ripe for breaches and abuse.
"Let's be clear: no method of age verification is both privacy-protective and entirely accurate," the EFF warns. "The methods also don't fall on a neat spectrum of 'more safe' to 'less safe.' Instead, every form of age verification is better described as 'dangerous in one way' or 'dangerous in a different way.'"
In Dead Kennedys' vision, California's totalitarian future came with "organic tofu" and "enforced meditation." Reality proved stranger — it came with mandatory ID checks when your uncool niece wants to buy acne cream and diet pills.
Previously:
• Shoshana Zuboff discusses her new book, 'Surveillance Capitalism'
• Snowden and Venezuela: My bizarre experience in the surveillance state
• UK's new surveillance law creates a national browser history with a search engine to match
• How to Talk to Your Children About Mass Surveillance
