Technology Op-Ed
Do you feel safe with technology? What if I told you it was gathering information on you? What if you thought it was all right? Surveillance over technology is a bad thing with good intentions. Surveillance started as simply wanting to fight against the bad things on the internet and ended up being taken way to far. Surveillance has caused an endless amount of problems such as lack of privacy, the ways they collect data on us, and so much more.
The lack of privacy is a huge set back to the world, we have lost privacy and most of us haven't even noticed yet. So many people in history fought for freedom, why should this be any different. We should not have to be monitored for doing something we’ve become so dependent on. We use technology constantly most of us can’t function without
Most of the people that know about it assume it’s just the NSA. Not to mention a majority of them think of them believe there is nothing to fear. “Pew asked the 87 percent of people who said they were aware of government surveillance if they had changed their behavior to protect their own privacy, and only 34 percent of people said they had taken any action.” in ‘Americans Don’t Care Enough About NSA Spying To Protect Themselves, Survey Says’ written by Alexis Kleinman.
Several different organizations are watching us including google, not all of the credit should go to the government. Several well-known tech companies watch over there costumes, along with certain websites. There are also a few apps that advertise to do the same, there is no limit to the madness. “We look the other way when Google is watching us, but when the government is watching us it makes our blood run cold, and in this last year, more and more people have had that moment of blood running cold.” says Antony Funnell in ‘1984 and Our Modern Surveillance Society’.
All of this is leading to complete surveillance, the words of George Orwell's 1984 are leaping off the page and becoming true. A work of pure Dystopian fiction is becoming more accurate then Utopian and is that what we want? “‘All of this space that we thought was open to us and was free for us to express ourselves in, suddenly seems very close,’ says futurist and digital culture analyst Mark Pesce, who believes the Snowden expose has not only made 1984 more relevantly but also caused many people to reassess the nature and direction of our digital world.” says Antony Funnell in ‘1984 and our modern surveillance society’.
It is here to fight cyber threats and keep an eye out for the bad things. If you have nothing to hide why would this be such a bad thing. "We can no longer trust them to be ethical Internet stewards. This is not the Internet the world needs, or the Internet its creators envisioned. We need to take it back." Says Daniel J. Gallington in ‘The Case for Internet Surveillance. What about the good it would bring to the future.“If calibrated properly, total surveillance might eradicate certain types of crime almost entirely. People respond well to inevitable consequences, especially those that follow swiftly on the heels of their conduct.” written by Stuart Armstrong in ‘Life in the Fishbowl’.
It is a fine topic, even the government supports and funds it. “Terrorists and extremist groups today use the power of the Internet, especially social media, to spread their messages of hate and intolerance, and to recruit new members, often targeting vulnerable young people. The global reach of cyberspace and the complexity of its networks provide bad actors with ample places to hide, safe from the reach of international law.” National Security Agency, Central Security Service official website states under ‘Understanding the Threat’.
There is someone watching you, listening to you, gathering information on you almost all the time. It tries to help in some ways but there must be a line in the sand somewhere. I agree that they have stopped several cyber-terror attacks, but recording everything from everyone is too much. We need to become more aware of the situation, we could even change it. To have more freedom and not worry about our technology.