I'm certainly willing to believe I don't "own" my phone today. I use an Apple device and until recently there was only one allowed way to distribute software. S

I'm certainly willing to believe I don't "own" my phone today. I use an Apple device and until recently there was only one allowed way to distribute software. Still, so far as I know, it's not possible to run software as root (ie expressing ownership!) and people use jailbreaks to achieve more control. In general I believe we're more likely to see 'soft' power: enforced through social mores, or just making something without options, creating a 'that's just how it is' situation. So I'm less inclined to believe that we'd be forced to accept things like remote attestation or global IDs. ..and yet. Those are possible, and would appeal to some governments, and we all know how easy to is to pass bad laws. Plus, they are extremely powerful: we could be surveilled and controlled far more than, say, the Stasi managed in East Germany. And look at what they were able to achieve in terms of control: imagine what could be done today. The idea is terrifying. I believe it's entirely possible to create a society where the power imbalance is so strong would not be feasibly possible for there to be democratic, freedom-oriented change.