Are you sure it’s just you?

Are you sure it’s just you?

It’s a topic that has been discussed many times in the media but has come to light more recently because of John Snowden the NSA whistle blower. He’s portrayed as the traitor of the USA which is ironically nicknamed ‘the free world.’ However his honesty has made me more aware of what the government in the UK knows about me. In fact because of this I am no longer naïve to think that the government doesn’t watch what I do online. I used to believe that because we are a democracy that surveillance online isn’t actually happening. I actually thought that communist countries like China who ban social media would be the only ones to take part in such a thing. How wrong was I?

Surveillance technologies aren’t just about online monitoring. It’s literally everywhere think CCTV, tracking systems and bugging. The well-known term ‘Big Brother is watching you’ didn’t just occur because of the reality show its real and it’s probably is or has happened to you without your knowledge.

Google one of the most successful companies in the world you’d think they would have thought to make their products less evasive. I’m talking about Google Glass one of their most anticipated products ever. Nick Pickles( 2013) “the reality of Google Glass. Everything you see, Google sees. You don’t own the data, you don’t control the data and you definitely don’t know what happens to the data. Put another way – what would you say if instead of it being Google Glass, it was Government Glass? A revolutionary way of improving public services, some may say” Just like the flaw in copyright laws the authorship doesn’t always mean ownership rights. Moreover selling information isn’t uncommon in this day and age. You know those annoying emails, text messages and phone calls that seem to be about you? Well those other companies got your information somehow and if you didn’t do it. It’s not just the concern over what happens to the data collected Google Glass and who has access to it but also the lack of privacy given to those walking in the street. Nick Pickles(2013) “It’s already led to reactions in the US. ‘Stop the Cyborgs’ might sound like the rallying cry of the next Terminator film, but this is the start of a campaign to ensure places of work, cafes, bars and public spaces are no-go areas for Google Glass.” I’d be very self-conscious if I saw someone wearing those glasses it’s not like they don’t stand out they are very obvious. Picture this your walking around with kids or young sibling and someone is looking directly at you wearing Google Glass, wouldn’t you get defensive? I doubt the box it comes in lists all the inappropriate places to wear them like toilets and nurseries.

Google may be taking advantage of us but Yahoo seems to be taking steps in rectifying the balance of power between the public and government. Although it’s an ongoing struggle Yahoo is trying their best to protect us. A BBC article states that “Yahoo said that as of March 31, all information being transmitted from one Yahoo data centre to another is now encrypted, making it more difficult for outsiders to decipher emails and other information flowing between the centres” BBC(2014). Too bad I don’t have a Yahoo account to benefit from it. The article further quotes Yahoo "We will continue to work hard to deploy the best possible technology to combat attacks and surveillance that violate our users' privacy," he added, without specifically mentioning the US government surveillance or allegations that the NSA spied on Yahoo users. My only question is that does Yahoo really have the power to defy a powerful government? They’ve given away our information before when asked to who says they won’t do it again?

You may not know it but surveillance does have its advantages. For instance governments around the world always use the threat of terrorism as a justification on spying on their citizens. I guess we should be grateful that they are keeping us safe.  Journalist Leo Kelion (2013) quotes Foreign Secretary William Hague who said “that law-abiding citizens have nothing to be worried about.” That is a good point if you’re excessively angry about this then maybe you’re doing something wrong. On the flip side to William Hague’s statement it almost sounds like a threat within itself as if the government are saying we can do whatever we want whenever we want. Not all of us want to harm people some of us just want what should be private to actually be private and not be available at the governments whim.  However surveillance especially of online activity has stopped a lot of crime such as child pornography which kind of makes me think it's worth it.

To conclude Deuze, M(2012:102) cites Lyon,D(2001:1) “All societies that are dependent on communication and information technologies for administrative and control processes are surveillance societies. The effects of this are felt in ordinary everyday life, which is closely monitored as never before in history.” This highlights that we have little control on the data that is collected by us which is worrying because privacy is our right.

Bibliography

Books

Deuze, M .(2012) Media Life, Cambridge: England. Chapter 4: ‘No Life Outside Media’ pp.101-130.

Online

Pickles,N (2013) Google Glass: Orwellian surveillance with fluffier branding [Online]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/9939933/Google-Glass-Orwellian-surveillance-with-fluffier-branding.html [accessed 02/04/14].

BBC (2014)Yahoo encrypts data centres and plans to add Messenger [Online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26863390 [accessed 03/04/14].

Kelion,L(2013) Q&A: NSA's Prism internet surveillance scheme [Online]. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23051248 [accessed 01/04/14].