The thing is, it’s just a shop trying to flog you more stuff you don’t need. It’s no more sinister than a billboard. Just a bit cleverer.
Rest assured that if the government ever tried to harness this same technology – to subvert democracy, or whatever – they’d end up spending ninety billion quid on a system that would be delivered 15 years late, and instead of being able to instantly recognise any solitary individual from half a mile away, had now lowered its ambitions to a more realistic level, and could tell the difference (at least 52% of the time) between a sheep and a goat, from half way across a pub car park. As long as it was daylight. And it’s not raining.