David Such's "Tagged" (flash fiction, science fiction, free): Yet another police state dystopia

Biometric ID cards ("ITag"s) are the citizen ID in this near future state. And their data is public!!! So companies use their data to deliver personalized ads!

A woman has fallen into the habit of overspending, driven by these ads. Her son, a programmer working on ITags software & with edit-access to government's ITags database, has figured the only way to wean her is to make her invisible to these target advertisers.

But the only way to do that is destroy her ITag, an illegal activity! And just destroying it doesn't work - government database pings personal tag gadget everyday! He must clear her from government database.

Means she's left with no citizen ID! And gets picked up by Homeland Security...

I've read so many stories of the ilk - it's beginning to get boring.

Fact sheet.

First published: AntipodeanSF, #109 (June/July 2007).
Rating: B
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