Xprize Foundation founder Peter Diamandis wants you to know that being watched is good for you. His take: “Humans behave better when they’re being watched.”
Diamandis laid out his vision in a Substack post, describing a global panopticon he calls a “Sensor Ecosystem.” Cameras in your home, phones in your pocket, autonomous cars, humanoid robots, drones, satellites imaging every square meter of Earth daily. “Radical transparency is coming,” he wrote. “A future where you can know anything, anytime, anywhere. A future where no one can hide.”
He’s not alone in this thinking. Oracle founder Larry Ellison made nearly identical comments in 2024, predicting that “citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything.” Diamandis was apparently spurred to write his post after interviewing Planet CEO Will Marshall, whose company operates the largest fleet of Earth-observing satellites. Marshall”s pitch: “If you build a school, we’re going to see the school. If you build a data center, we’re going to see the data center.”
Diamandis doesn’t just describe the technology. He gives advice to fellow executives on how to live in a world without privacy. His suggestion? “Be a good person.” He tells parents: “Your kids will grow up in a world with no ‘off the record.’ Teach them that the best privacy strategy is integrity.”
But here’s what he doesn’t wrestle with. Who defines “good” behavior? The definitions of “good” and “honest” are often in the eye of the beholder — in this case, whoever controls the cameras. And he never answers whether people would behave well because it’s right or because they fear being caught.
Public pushback is already happening. Cities have covered Flock license plate cameras with trash bags after learning ICE and FBI were accessing the data. Ring canceled its partnership with Flock after user backlash. Meta is fighting a lawsuit over its smart glasses capturing intimate footage. The surveillance tech is real and spreading. Whether that’s comforting or terrifying depends entirely on who’s holding the cameras.
