Americano Has the surveillance state gone too far?
Feb 12, 2026
Michael Shellenberger, author and commentator on politics and free speech, explores AI and privacy intrusions. He discusses the Ring Super Bowl ad, facial recognition and how scraped data fuels AI. Conversations cover surveillance tradeoffs for safety, digital IDs and a surveillance industrial complex tied to politics and intelligence.
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Surveillance Made Uncomfortably Visible
- The Ring Super Bowl ad made a hidden surveillance reality explicit and alarmed many Americans.
- Michael Shellenberger warns that firms reveal practices people assumed were secret, prompting public concern.
Privacy Tradeoffs At The Airport
- Michael Shellenberger describes using Clear at airports despite civil liberties concerns.
- He admits convenience can outweigh privacy even for privacy advocates.
Billionaires Endorsing Panoptic Tech
- Larry Ellison publicly celebrated cameras and digital IDs as ways to keep citizens 'on their best behavior.'
- Shellenberger frames that stance as a Foucauldian surveillance ideal becoming mainstream tech policy.