Big Brother: An Argumentative Analysis

The government gains control by distilling fear in the lives of individuals. This is exhibited when it is mentioned, “Big Brother IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell). It is made to believe that every private and public place is subject to cameras, which creates the illusion that all of the citizen’s actions are susceptible to tracking devices. The idea of cameras allowing “Big Brother” to watch all the citizens, dissuades them from acting in a specific manner. Despite this being a false, unjustified claim, it proves to be an effective instrument in maintaining order. Correspondingly, in today’s society, individuals are made to believe that every doubtful action one makes online is liable to tracking methods. A new program of the National Security Agency “…allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals…” (Greenwald). The National Security Agency promotes violates the privacy of citizens. Therefore, the novel and today’s society share similarities in regards to the governments controlling demeanour, which conducts fear in those individuals who even dare commit any

Though the consequences of citizen’s actions through technology today are not as severe or are non punishable, they do not take the government’s surveillance as seriously as the citizens of Oceania did in 1984. One NSA system can reach about 75% of all US Internet traffic, communications by foreigners and Americans (Gorman n. pag.). The US government's defense to surveillance claims is that the justification is National Security (Calamur n. pag.)., and this may be true, but the question of the freedom to privacy ratio, as a free nation, is still undecided. One way surveillance is now even more accessible is due to Google Glass. "With Google Glass, nobody's pointing a camera... phone. You no longer know if you're being filmed... an unspoken social rule is being violated" (Brown 42). and gives the government the ability to see from the point of view of anyone. With most every person you meet having quick access to some sort of recordable technology, it is easy to have your actions recorded or documented without your knowledge. The information can be easily spread around the world without your knowing or permission with just a simple touch. As said before, “.....an unspoken social rule is being violated” (Brown 42), taking away the sense of privacy and security felt by many Americans. Another form of surveillance, used by specifically the NYPD, is the use of undercover cops. Since The Occupy Wall Street

Everyday technology is advancing and has become part of people’s everyday life, from phones, cars, computers, and even the light switches in a room. With all this technology, it would be easy to use it for other things then what they were intended for. For example what if someone wanted to control what another person could do such as sleeping or going places. It would not not be that hard to try and control another human being, or even worse being watched every single moment of everyday for the rest of their life. That idea is not as farfetched as it may seem now with even more phones, computers, televisions and cameras in general. Technology is taking humanity nearer and nearer to world of Big Brother and the worse part is that if they are not careful, Big Brother could raise without any citizen ever knowing.

5 Ways You Give The Government Control” written by Kenneth Coats shows how the devices we use daily slowly take over individuals lives. Coats states, “Today, most people in the United States carry a mobile phone that accompanies them wherever they go. We use them for everything...This essentially makes them the perfect tracking and bugging devices”. Although electronic devices are known to be safe, they allow outside people to figure out individuals personal life. Due to the need for devices such as cell phones, each individual has a high chance of being socially stalked once in their lifetime. Coats then states, “Not only do intelligence agencies gather information via mobile companies, but… your phone can be hacked using spyware. Even if your phone is turned off, it can be remotely accessed to recorded conversations and take photographs”. This issue causes a panic due to the wide spread of inappropriate pictures and private conversations in one's life. Even though technology is viewed as a privileged, it is also taking away people's lives without their

With the seemingly exponential propagation of inexpensive digital communications technologies over recent years, the general public is becoming more aware of the issues surrounding information privacy and government surveillance in the digital age. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry with a smart-phone has to be wary of how they use their private information for fear of that information being collected and used in a way contrary to their wishes. "Leaky" smartphone apps that transmit private information across the internet can be unethically used by government agencies. The issue of privacy is a balancing act; the public usually wants increased privacy and the government usually wants increased access.

Law professor Paul Ohm, in an article titled “That’s No Phone. That’s My Tracker”, writes “Every year, private companies send millions of dollars developing new services that track, store and share words, movement and even the thoughts of their customers.” We see their privacy being broken in the novel 1984 and realize that we are experiencing the same type of surveillance in our economy. NBC News, in an article FBI Abandoned Carnivore Wiretap Software writes, “FBI… popular commercial wiretap software because it was less expensive and had improved in it’s ability to copy E-mails and other communications of a targeted internet account without affecting their subscribers. Government officials use this kind of technology to keep track of our information and movement to assure we are no threat to our

According to “A Surveillance Society” By William E. Thompson there are camera everywhere, watching everything you do at all times. Cameras are found everywhere and are used by everyone, including the governments of the world who use it the most to track its citizens and potential threats to the safety of their nation. People are more willing to be watched in order to feel safer everywhere they go such as the supermarket to your own workplace. Governments can now look into your email, travel records, credit history and your personal life without your knowledge of them ever doing so, even your neighbors can now easily buy tools to spy on others or to protect themselves from danger; Things such as security cameras

Technology has become more accessible to the point it has become easier for government to watch everyone's move. In this generation technology takes over everyone's daily life, where people wakes up and the first thing is look at is the phone. A phone there are many things on it, like text, pictures and videos. Phones can do many things, but there is a possibility where the government can tap into a phone and look through it. The government can watch everyone’s: text, history, private info, and pictures. Government has no right to looking through people’s personal info because it violates Fourth amendment, Blackmail, and Creates fear.

Technology is taking over the world as we know it. Orwell predicted that technology would take control of citizen’s lives and make them have no privacy, and honestly that is not so far off. Governments can access these devices and look at what people learning, looking at, and who they are talking to. There is not much that a citizen can hide from their government. Citizens do not have as much privacy as they did even just twenty years ago. With technological advances, the world could follow the story of George Orwell’s 1984. Video surveillance is something that the government uses also, although it is not as harsh as in George Orwell’s story, but still citizen’s privacies are being invaded. According to Alex Abdo, there is a United States owned database filled with every Americans information and every one of his or her associations (Abdo). Even the United States, which is considered a country built upon freedom, is monitoring its people. The American government even tries to follow everything that its citizens do. Governments even have 64 federal websites that are helping them follow their people’s browsing and buying habits (Zuckerbrod). Governments are using their websites to monitor what people are doing. This way the government can know everything from their people’s hobbies to who their best friend is. Technology is helping the government take away their citizens privacy.

Orwell’s prediction of digital surveillance is one of the biggest issues that is discussed today as the increased amount of surveillance in countries, which creates a lack of privacy for the citizens. One scholar of George Orwell says, “Orwell say way ahead of his time that surveillance was a constant threat. When you’ve lost your privacy to a government that says it’s only thinking of your safety, you’ve lost something previous” (qtd. in Gelt 2). The novel starts out with the very well known quote of “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU,” (2). The concept of Big Brother is that the government is constantly watching over the people to make sure there is no attack on the Party and/or the Party’s interests. Big Brother uses resources such as surveillance helicopters (13) to peer into the rooms of the apartments

In George Orwell’s novel 1984, Big Brother was a character of fiction. He was able to oversee everything and virtually controlled the daily lives of millions of people via numerous types of technology. Through telescreens, microphones, cameras, and ‘thought police’, the government was able to keep complete dominance over the people. Now, as we advance technologically the thought of Big Brother watching over us isn’t so far-fetched. If put into the wrong hands, information and technology can be very dangerous, as shown in 1984. Even though the government claim they use social media to keep us safe, Orwell’s vision could be slowly coming true. Big Brother no longer has to work hard to monitor us, for we’re inadvertently

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.

Government surveillance in the past was not a big threat due to the limitations on technology; however, in the current day, it has become an immense power for the government. Taylor, author of a book on Electronic Surveillance supports, "A generation ago, when records were tucked away on paper in manila folders, there was some assurance that such information wouldn 't be spread everywhere. Now, however, our life stories are available at the push of a button" (Taylor 111). With more and more Americans logging into social media cites and using text-messaging devices, the more providers of metadata the government has. In her journal “The Virtuous Spy: Privacy as an Ethical Limit”, Anita L. Allen, an expert on privacy law, writes, “Contemporary technologies of data collection make secret, privacy invading surveillance easy and nearly irresistible. For every technology of confidential personal communication…there are one or more counter-technologies of eavesdropping” (Allen 1). Being in the middle of the Digital Age, we have to be much more careful of the kinds of information we put in our digital devices.

Individuals claim that the states throughout our country are always being watched by the Government; our every move, our every purchase, and even our every commute to and from work are being monitored. Welsh and Farrington(2004) both agree in explaining that the closed-circuit television(CCTV) is doing the exact same thing. "America is on the verge of becoming a 'surveillance society' (Stanley and Steinhardt, 2003:1)" (Welsh, 2004: 2). George Orwell discusses that “Every single technical device that has been invented, restored, or refurbished in the last ten years is becoming an increasing negative towards individuals freedom of interference”, but Welsh and Farrington seem to disagree. "Fact is, there are no longer any barriers to the Big Brother regime portrayed by George Orwell" (Welsh, 2004:2).

Orwell's eerie foresight only continues when Winston notices a Police Patrol helicopter darting from window to window, looking into people's windows. This type of surveillance in clearly illegal today, and would be noticed immediately, but in the last 50 years, satellites and unmanned drone aircraft have taken over the fictional role of the Police Patrols. Public satellites that are 10 to 15 years old currently can produce digital images with 1-meter resolution. Military satellites can supposedly produce images with 10-centimeter resolution, meaning that `Big Brother' could theoretically follow you from your house to your work to a restaurant and home again without you even knowing you were being watched. This type of surveillance is most likely being used mostly overseas, and not on Americans, but its mere existence should be a clear signal to us that our age has not avoided the surveillance pitfalls of 1984.