Fortune has one of those periodic glimpses into the future which terrify many people who complain that science is out of control, and excite the various transhumanist borg-a-likes who are desperate to have their brains downloaded and all their internal bits and pieces replaced by nanobots.
One of the problems that anyone working in nanotechnologies faces is it that they are often blamed for this particular vision of the future, whereas the truth is that nanotechnologies are only one small part of it. A common theme among social scientists is that nanotechnology, by enabling ubiquitous sensors, is going to have negative implications for privacy.
But sensors are only a small part of the issue. Embedding some form of smart dust into almost everything could be possible, but all of that information will need to be transmitted, processed, stored and sifted through before it can have any impact on privacy. From facial recognition to speech processing to look for keywords and patterns, much of the advance is being enabled by software, not nanotechnologies.
Of course nanotechnologies do play a part, but as all computers require power, so does the electricity industry, and we dont see them taking the blame for societies future ills.