Dangers Of Surveillance

1984, a novel by George Orwell, represents a dystopian society in which the people of Oceania are surveilled by the government almost all the time and have no freedoms. Today, citizens of the United States and other countries are watched in a similar way. Though different technological and personal ways of keeping watch on society than 1984, today’s government is also able to monitor most aspects of the people’s life. 1984 might be a dystopian society, but today’s condition seems to be moving towards that controlling state, where the citizens are surveilled by the government at all times.

Abusive Surveillance: The Hinderance to Societal Progress Surveillance is not a new thing. In fact, espionage, tracking, and sleuthing were part of society ever since 5000 B.C. But in the rise of the modern era, the idea of surveillance in the public eye serves as a controversial topic of discussion. People everywhere complain about the existence of security cameras, government tracking, and the right to privacy. Such problems, however, are not due to the sudden discovery of surveillance, but the modern abuse of it. Seeing the disastrous effects of over surveillance from George Orwell’s 1984, the public rightfully fears societal deterioration through modern surveillance abuse portrayed in Matthew Hutson’s “Even Bugs Will Be Bugged” and the effects of such in Jennifer Golbeck’s “All Eyes On You”. The abuse of surveillance induces the fear of discovery through the invasion of privacy, and ensures the omnipresence of one’s past that haunt future endeavors, to ultimately obstruct human development and the progress of society overall.

Privacy and safety of citizens is common in today's society, as well as the government looking over their shoulder at all times. As an example, George Orwell wrote a book called, "1984" which in it gave an outlook of society being taken over by a party. Government surveillance is different from protecting and bringing safety to the citizens, it violates their freedom, privacy, and human rights.

Political Science Response State of the Union Response In the 2013 State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama explained his perception of the country as it is currently working. The President states that he believes all is well in the country. All of the problems which have faced the country over

Government Surveillance Are the controversies true? Am I always being watched? These questions are typical questions that most Americans might be asking themselves for the past few years. For years, the American eye has been opened to everyday threats of being watched, monitored and spied on by the government. For some, this may not have come off as shocking as it may have had to other, but the problem is still there and problem is still there. The problem Americans face is the problem of being under constant surveillance by our “trusted” leaders. In America, government surveillance needs to be reduced.

Unless someone is wanted by the police, everyone tends to live their lives in peace and normalcy. The average person wakes up, takes a shower, eats breakfast, and then prepare themselves for the daily activities that await them. The last thing to cross someone’s mind is whether anyone is watching their every move or not. However, should we not be worried about how easy it is for the government to gain access into the private lives of every citizen? Is it not scary how every move is recorded and carefully watched for suspicious activity? In George Orwell’s 1984, he suggests that each and every day the government is taking more extreme measures to get an insight into the lives of anyone and everyone.

Words like surveillance, Big Brother, and control all used in the same sentence may stir up a few--- actually a lot of concerns because everyone knows that Big Brother is bad news and that he is watching you at all times and if you dare defy him, you will be held accountable for the consequences. Present day 2015, who is Big Brother in our society? Of course many may think, “What a preposterous question! We do not live in an Orwellian lifestyle”. But we do. GPS trackers on cellphones, smart telescreens or televisions, new computer chipped credit cards, and social media sites all clearly point out the undeniable fact that we have self-inflicted Big Brother’s world upon our modern-day society and we are so blinded everyday through these new shiny gismos and gadgets that we fail to see the reality of our Orwellian situation.

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.

our society today? The most obvious argument towards our society becoming increasingly “Orwellian” is the amount of monitoring we are allowed to be subject to. One disturbing fact is that we are

Privacy at the Cost of National Security Big Brother is watching (Orwell). The truth is that anyone reading this paper from the internet has the right to know that someone thousands of miles away could very well be watching (Orwell). On top of this shocking fact, a victim would never even know they were being watched. George Orwell knew what he was talking about when he wrote of a society in which all things are monitored by the government and an individual's right to privacy is breached for the sake of peace and safety. Some might even say America is such a society today. The citizens in the USA believe that their government is doing all in its power to protect them, but when do national security measures such as spying and monitoring become

Today, most people in society believe they are being watched and studied at all times; cameras, microphones, and trackers all make sure you are surveyed and watched over every day. The phrase, “Big Brother is Watching You” (Orwell), derived from George Orwell’s novel 1984, is something society has feared ever since the true power of the government has been discovered. People all over the world have been afraid of the government and the National Security Agency (NSA) being able to watch what we do, who we talk to, and what we’re searching on any of our devices. However, although we are being watched constantly, could our technology be spiraling towards that of a dystopian society? Due to the immense amount of personal security and the many laws

How Surveillance Advancements Are Effecting People’s Lives Do you ever feel like you are being watched? Well you probably are. Since 9/11 Britain has put up over 4.2 million new cameras in public places and the U.S. is trying to keep up with that number. This number will continue to grow with more advancements in technology and violent acts of terrorism. The government has experimented with technologies that will recognize patterns. It could remember your face, photo radar, and They can hide cameras in many different ways. They can hide them in glasses, computers, TV’s phones, street light movie theaters, etc... They make cameras that are so small that they could be anywhere. If you aren’t looking for them then you will never even know they’re

Today's technological abilities take surveillance to new levels: no longer are spyglasses and eavesdropping from a roof ncessary t survey individuals- the government can and does exploit methods to observe all te behavior and actions

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).

As stated by Al Franken,"The government must give proper weight to both keeping America safe from terrorists and protecting Americans' privacy. But when Americans lack the most basic information about our domestic surveillance programs, they have no way of knowing whether we're getting that balance right. This lack of transparency is a big problem." The word Orwellian is a word that is used for describing government surveillance. This is an issue that many Americans have and have no idea that it is even happening too them. The government has surveillance on basically everything around you from your computer, to your phone, and even your email and search history. Through peoples electronic devices and cameras the government and anyone who can hack into these devices can know where you are at, what you are doing, and have access to all of our personal information. The government claims that they are surveying us for safety from domestic and international threats through our electronic devices. By acquiescently allowing the government to access all of your information and survey you, you give up all of your privacy because this information can be accessed by hackers and the government. Due to acquiescent citizens in the U.S I believe that we have already reached the same level of an Orwellian and totalitarian society like that of the society in 1984. Although the surveillance is not in the same form, through computers pictures can be taken of me my phone can record my voice and