“Describe or narrate a scenario about a corporation found a decade into a future in which society as we know it has come apart. Your description should address issues related to citizenship and elicit feelings of anxiety” 

The government funneled money into “Sync” a company that focused on bringing people together and creating safer communities. When it first launched, the program was only for criminals. Only people who were considered dangerous or threats to the community needed to have the procedure done. In the trial phase, a small pool of individuals who were out on parol with major convictions qualified. The monitor measured all the user’s biometric data, heart rate, movement, body temperature, etc… and cross-referenced their information with GPS tracking. The devices were intended to monitor and surveil those on parol to ensure they were not partaking in illegal activities or putting others at risk.

The biometric measurements were wildly accurate and even helped some catch health issues at the very early stages. So, Sync released a commercial version, supported by the government, that allowed individuals with medical conditions to get the chips, under the pretense that they were medically assisted devices. Within the first year, Sync was endorsed by the government, celebrities, and serious athletes as the next step towards a longer, healthier life. The general population followed suit, and the model was refined to only require one embedded sensor near the heart. Sync partnered with governments in dozens of other counties and infiltrated global markets; the device became a staple in the lives of billions. Sync was a household name, like Amazon or Google. 

However, as Sync grew, the company expanded the purpose of the monitor – becoming more than just a health device. The page that used to infrequently pop up on people’s smart-watches warning them that they were in proximity to a convicted felon turned into detailed profiles. Profiles of all their users were created with publicly available biometric data that could be accessed by anybody. At first, it was fun sharing your heart rate with your friend. But API integrations created by Sycn and other big tech companies used advanced algorithmic models to predict a person’s mood and mental state. There was even an application that compiled a person’s metadata from their computers, TV, phone, watches, and vehicles and cross-referenced the information to their biological data. This allowed the app to re-create a user’s life in digital form and make extremely accurate, curated predictions of a person’s thoughts, feelings, and future actions.  

That’s when things went south. 

In real-time, people could extrapolate and analyze data from heart rates and body temperature. Meaning, this information could be used to determine if people were telling the truth. Unlike devices of the past, like smartwatches, removing the monitor required surgical intervention. The permanent nature of the device meant these features were inescapable. The government took advantage of the scarily accurate lie detection feature and re-opened nearly all criminal investigations. Headlines started to read “Woman kills husband after using Sync Monitor Lie Detection” and “Another Teen Dies After Trying to Remove Sync Monitor”. Society faced collective panic, living in fear of being watched and constantly exposed. Relationships and lives started to unravel as the Sync monitor forced its users to be completely honest. Secrets that people had hoped to take to their graves were now being trialed by friends, family members, and law enforcement. In a matter of a few months, the world had become an unpleasant, isolating, and hostile place, filled with distrust toward loved ones and a burning resentment toward the government.