An Invasion Of Privacy In The Book 1984 By George Orwell

With the power hungry Party and the most acknowledged face of Big Brother watching and monitoring everybody, the story of “1984” by George Orwell expresses the utmost control over their people and have the absolute power with their country Oceania. The Party believes that Big Brother will live on forever, because of the constant removal of those who are unfaithful and the rewriting of history. However, with the example of the main character showing disobedience against the Party, there is a chance for this type of ruling to fail and be destroyed by the people. The main possible cause of the fall of Big Brother is most likely the underestimation of the power of the people.

“Big Brother is Watching You”, is one of the most obvious connections between today’s society and 1984. In the novel Big Brother, the supposed leader of the Party, rules the nation of Oceania and keeps endless surveillance on the population through telescreens. In the real world, conversely, many individuals have hand-held telescreens, called cellphones, which they carry with them mostly

Everyone has always wondered if people were ever watching them. Our technology today is capable to eavesdrop in on anyone’s conversations even if their phones are turned off. In the novel, “1984”, the party INGSOC uses telescreens to watch over the people and always know what they are up to. This denies the people’s rights and privileges to go about their business as they please. The technology we have today is almost exact to what big brother uses in George Orwell’s novel by taking over the public and private parts of our lives.

The strict surveillance of citizens as seen in Orwell’s novel, 1984, is similar to the government involvement in today’s smart devices due to their advanced technical abilities.

The juxtaposition of Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 with our present day government and social media presence in the United States demonstrates the imminent danger of imposing figures who control both the actions and thoughts of its citizens. Throughout the novel, the narrator depicts Big Brother as a controlling force that takes technology and surveillance of the citizens of Oceania too far. Similarly, in today’s society, we are constantly bombarded with new technology by the government and social media that demands and records our actions as well as our inner thoughts. As Winston navigates his dangerous and dilapidated world, one can uncover parallels between his relationship with Big Brother and our relationship with the government

It has been more than seventy years since the release of George Orwell’s 1984, a novel that imparts a lesson on the consequences of government overreach. However, today that novel reads like an exposé of government surveillance. Privacy and national security are two ideas competing for value on a balance; if one is more highly valued, the other carries less weight. Government desire to bolster national security by spying on its own citizens-- even the law abiding ones-- is what leads to the inverse relationship between civil liberties and security. In times of a perceived threat to the nation, national security becomes highly prized and people lose privacy. One case is terrorist attacks. 9/11 caused an understandable kneejerk reaction in Americans to bolster protection. Some of the the measures taken were observable, like greater security at airports, but others attempted to increase national security in a more intrusive way. Privacy should be more highly valued than national security, and America has reached a point where that is no longer true.

Telescreens: A wall mounted electronic device that doubles as a television and a surveillance camera, used to monitor the citizens of 1984. In the novel 1984 by George Orwell, these telescreens play the most critical part in keeping Oceania’s citizens under control. With telescreens, it’s almost impossible to have any freedom. People are constantly being watched, the slightest act of rebellion can be easily caught, restricting people from being able to truly express themselves. Other techniques the party use may contribute to the control of its citizens, but nothing keeps everybody’s back straight quite like the telescreens of Oceania. Due to the unbelievable amount of telescreens there is no privacy what so ever. Without privacy, no one can think of rebellion, much less act upon those thoughts. Because of this, it is clear that telescreens are the most affective method the party can use to keep the citizens of Oceania under its control.

On Tuesday March 22, 2016, my group discussed a portion of the novel, “1984” written by George Orwell. At one point in our book club discussion, Gabby brought up an interesting question, how do telescreens monitor the population? The telescreens are similar to TVs except they also act as security cameras and people can be watched by the Thought Police using the telescreens. Thought Police are quite similar to modern day police, but they are the ones who have access to the security footage and search for people who are disloyal to Big Brother.

Who is God? As both an existential and conceptual force, God exists as an median between birth, life, and death as a way to either provoke or stifle the human spirit.

I say yes and no! I say both because many people are different when it comes to their personal privacy. I believe people should decide whether or not they give up aspects of their personal privacy. For example, if one would let them, but if one does not then give them their full privacy because many people have kids and would not want people to invade any type of their privacy. There is a good and bad to giving up your aspects of personal privacy, as stated in the article by DesMarais “As such services begin to grow, they might threaten your privacy. So, in many instances, if you don’t want an entity knowing the location of your mobile device, you should shut it off or ditch it completely”(DesMarais,2012). This shows that it is their choice whether they want these services to know their location or not. Something else that this article says that relates to personal privacy is” Over time, Skyhook also figures out where all these devices live. Then, by mixing into device profiles publicly available data from the U.S. Census, for example, it adds demographic data such as age and ethnicity.”(DesMarais,2012) This is significant because it is telling us that this service, which is skyhook, can figure out where people live, their age and also ethnicity through one

Imagine living in a world where you could not make your own choices, or be your own person. In the novel 1984, this is exactly what happened. In a place called Oceania where there is no such thing as privacy and personal freedom (Roelofs), the main character Winston Smith, is living a strict life under the demanding party known as Big Brother. Winston decides that he wants his life back to normal and tries to rebel against the Party. Meanwhile, he is thought to be a lunatic because he is living his life how a normal person would, but everyone else is now living under what is thought to be a utopia society. Throughout the book Winston strongly disagrees with the fact that every second he is being keep under surveillance. Though at some points he believes he is being discrete, in reality someone is always watching. In 1984, George Orwell depicts the lack of privacy and loss of individualism which affects the characters and the society as a whole.

Privacy is a very important part of a person's life. Having a lack of privacy can make that person feel extremely violated. For instance, if someone is sitting down and they get a text informing them that they are being watched. This action could make a person either very scared, insecure, or resentful. This theme of the lack of privacy is portrayed by the figure Big Brother.

“1984” and Technology Surveillance Technology is one of the most essential and powerful part of human life, it makes life much easier and fast. However, if technology is misused could lead to endangerment of human life. In the book “1984” by George Orwell describes a society in constant surveillance and control by their government. The government in “1984” uses technology as a tool of surveillance to control and maintain its power, thereby, making its citizens who wants a free and individual life frustrated as their dreams seems impossible to accomplish. Technology surveillance was also used to spread propaganda and read the minds of the people.

This artifact is a video in which government surveillance is once again discussed. This artifact was published to youtube and features reporter Joe Biggs. This was published in September of 2014 and the reporter is speaking to victims of the situation, people who are subjected to lack of privacy due to government surveillance.

The government in 1984 maintains power by using constant surveillance and suppression of citizens. Unlike the modern era, all citizens know they are being watched and are cautious about their actions. Winston says of the telescreen, the Party’s method of espionage: “Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it [the telescreen], moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as