Somehow, it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. I mean, it’s a long way from George Orwell’s 1984, but even so, I can’t escape the uncomfortable feeling that Big Brother is really here.

It’s the cameras, you see. The cameras, and the incredibly powerful software and databases behind them.

I know they’re there to protect us. I know they’re for our own good, to prevent crime and to ensure the rule of law. And to make business more ‘personal’. But I’d give a month’s salary just to be able to wander the streets unrecognized!

Every store or restaurant or business I walk into, I’m warmly greeted by name – not because the staff know me, but because the moment I appear, I am tagged and recognized by the web of cameras that surrounds us. My name and background details are beamed instantly to whatever sixth-sense device my host is connected to.

At first, I felt special. Now it irritates the hell out of me!

No matter where I go or what I do, everyone ‘knows’ me – and I ‘know’ them. The social network that started a decade ago as Facebook has morphed into Mindbook, and now we’re all part of it – whether we like it or not.

It’s hardly surprising then, that a new protest is springing up – the MaskMovement! More and more people are seeking to hide their identities behind elaborate masks and bizarre face paintings. It’s not illegal yet, but the politicians have already started braying. Just you wait.

It really wasn’t supposed to be like this…