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In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Although he was actually creating a pro-taxation, rather than pro-privacy, argument, his powerful words are still often used today, as we consider the implications that advancing technology is having upon our privacy and security.

It’s not easy to make predictions about technology. Who, after all, could have foreseen the Internet revolution, the advent of the smartphone or the ubiquity of connected devices? It’s an industry which can surprise even those at the very heart of innovation, including IBM Founder, Thomas Watson, who once proclaimed that there was a global market for “maybe five computers” and “5,000 copying machines”.

Technology is often blamed for the collapse of the high street. With shoppers increasingly preferring the ease and speed of making purchases online, rather than in a physical store, more and more stores are closing their doors. This isn’t surprising; after all, if you can find what you need online, at a lower price, with free delivery and you don’t even need to leave your house, then why bother slogging into the town centre?

The British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) recently revealed that tech workers are five times more likely to suffer from a mental health problem, compared to the wider population. Between four and 10 per cent of UK adults are thought to experience depression at some point in their lives but this figure pales in comparison to the tech sector, where as many as 52 per cent of the workforce admitted to suffering with stress, anxiety and depression at work.