Hah! that's a good one. I was only considering positive ways out of this, but of course there is annihaliation like you point out.
That's a good point about the powerful interests turning against themselves--almost in a latestagecapitalism type of way. In this case I'm not sure it applies (since the big tech companies also love to collect massive databases, so they would if anything want to get in on this as well--but there definitely are some satisfying scenairos watching the giants fight (e.g. copyright law of music/recording/film industry against google/netflix, net neutrality of telecoms vs tech).
I was only considering positive ways out of this, but of course there is annihaliation like you point out.
You make a good point, I am being a pessimist. I'll try a couple optimist scenarios:
1) Assuming the system is here to stay: If it can't be destroyed, at least it can be neutralized. Much like certain parties have done to information on the internet, perhaps its possible to render their system unreliable with a signal-to-noise tactic. Send random DNA into 23andme under random names. Trick facial recognition with hair and makeup, iris-obstructing contacts, or IR glasses. Shun digital currency and credit cards. Bulk spam metadata on social media. And so on.
2) The true optimist scenario: We educate the entire voting population, counter divisive narratives, unite humanity under a banner of solidarity for the cause of a free and privacy respecting societies, and elect officials that will appoint trustworthy patriots dismantle the surveillance state while leaving intact the constitutions, sovereignty, and freedoms of the first world.
Really good comment.
1) Yup, this is really like the cat and mouse game of online surveilance. The current battle is largely winnable (e.g. tor, good browser, good OS, ad blockers) so long as you aren't the specific target of a state intelligence agency. What makes a government database far worse than this is that it removes your ability to functional at all in society. Imagine a world where cameras track your car and face on the drive to work, a GPS in the car uploads its position (your phone obviously does this too, but now you can't just leave the phone), all public transportation such as busses, trains, and airplanes are similarly tracked. All economic transactions are tracked and analyzed. Sure you might be able to spoof some of these, but you won't be able to beat all of them, and even if you could there would undoubtedly be data mining to find "unusual" people and flag them: your absence of data or instances of spoofing would single you out for investigation, especially if you wish to have any modern lifestyle that is not off the grids in the woods. Laws making it illegal to falsify or intentionally deceive the data collection make the resistance strategy of very dubious value. Essentially an Orwellian nightmare.
2) That would be amazing. I have no expectation that this will happen though--perhaps because all cultural, educational, religious, and economic institutions have aligned with a culture of surrender of individuality. It's a massive uphill battle. One way this might come about though is if there is an example of a country taking this too far (e.g UK or Singapore) that collapses into fascism and serves as a warning for other nations about how this system can be abused.
Huge solar flare? Self-replicating nanobots that only eat electrical metals/alloys? The most realistic is corporations war against governments because authoritarianism hurts their bottom line.
Short answer, there is no way back without a collapse of civilization.