This piece originally appeared at Second Best.
Imagine a breakthrough happened and suddenly everyone had access to cheap, x-ray style glasses. The glasses look like normal, everyday glasses, but come with a dial setting that lets you see through walls, people's clothing, etc. It somehow works on old photos and video recordings too.
On one level, this would be amazing. You might notice the mysterious lump on your friend’s thyroid, say, catching their cancer early and saving them untold medical costs. But in the immediate term, universal and near-undetectable access to the glasses (or contact lenses, if you prefer) would be a security and privacy disaster. No one's home or device security was compromised per se. Rather, it's more like a society designed around the visible light spectrum became maladapted overnight.