Jeffery Rosen The Naked Machine Summary

In the modern society we are used to having privacy to a certain extent. In recent years, social media has opened up more sharing among individuals that ever before. However, where people are at all times, what they are thinking, and what people do in their homes are all completely private if they want it to be. That principle is the exact opposite in the classic futuristic novel, 1984 by George Orwell where every person’s action is seen. Similarly, the novel Little Brother by Cory Doctorow takes a look into the modern world's relatable experiences and how one action can slowly lead into the invasion of privacy. The characters in both of these novels do not agree with how society is ran, and want to change it.

Roger Rosenblatt, author of "Who Killed Privacy," states, "This is the age where everything is known, everything told" (Rosenblatt 378). This observation could not have been said any better. In our day and age everybody has to know everything about everyone. Privacy is no longer existent; technology has taken all forms of it away from us. An Atlanta mail-order house offers a product called Listenaider, which amplifies nearby sounds and is designed to look like a Walkman (Rosenblatt 379). Avid movie watchers are quite familiar with what a voice changer is. To disguise your voice all you would need is one of these. Speak into a small device and you are instantly transformed into a man, woman or, as in the movies, a killer. For those nosey people who have to know every conversation on every home phone, a scanner is now available. What happened to privacy?!? As Rosenblatt states privacy was "killed" by the all too popular technology. How can any of this be beneficial to society? It is sad that a person can't have a phone conversation without worrying that somebody is listening in. It is frightening about what is out there and what can be done. It gets more and more complicated and sophisticated everyday. It is even more frightening about what the future holds.

Out of the increased abuse of surveillance emerges human fear, as an overdose of information leads to a paranoid society, whose skeptic lens distrusts everything and attempts to micromanage all portals of information, and a suppressed society, whose fear of discovery inhibits its expression. In Winston’s world of telescreens and thought police, the idea of privacy is nonexistent. The looming presence of Big Brother’s face “[is] as though some huge

Am I being watched right now? In a world of computers and the Internet, lack of privacy is rapidly becoming an immeasurable concern. In this millennial, our society is filled with millions of people. Throughout the years, we have adopted privacy as an essential and fundamental right. It is the governments job to protect their citizens in their beliefs, emotions, sensations and thoughts. Cory Doctorow’s novel, Little Brother, is a novel that takes place in the early 2000’s speculating the effects to a terrorists attack similar to that of 9/11, in regard to civil liberties. Doctorow claims, “This book is meant to be something you do, not just something you read.” He takes this opportunity to provide readers an education of security systems, computer

Rosen portrays our society as completely exposed, giving up all privacy to join, and fit in with the “naked crowd”. Rosen claims that we willing give up all power of privacy in order to fit in with society and be accepted as someone that can be trusted through exposure. He claims that image is the key to establishing trust, not through a relationship or conversation. His thesis presents his views on the subject, “has led us to value exposure over privacy? Why, in short, are we so eager to become members of the Naked Crowd, in which we have the illusion of belonging only when we are exposed?”(Rosen) he states that we value exposure over privacy, and will give away privacy to fit in.

Many Americans do not realize that at any time of the day the government could be observing their “private” lives. On the other hand, some individuals have predicted the government would develop a form of constant surveillance, like George Orwell who forecasted a futuristic government, which used technology as a relentless eye on the members of the society in the novel 1984. 1984 was correct, to an extent, in predicting that the government would increase their usage of technology to constantly observe their people, whether in public or their private homes.

As a growing topic of discussion, privacy in our society has stirred quite some concern. With the increase of technology and social networking our standards for privacy have been altered and the boundary between privacy and government has been blurred. In the article, Visible Man: Ethics in a World Without Secrets, Peter Singer addresses the different aspects of privacy that are being affected through the use of technology. The role of privacy in a democratic society is a tricky endeavor, however, each individual has a right to privacy. In our society, surveillance undermines privacy and without privacy there can be no democracy.

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.

In Peter Singer’s “Visible Man: Ethics in a World without Secrets,” one main word drives the article: privacy. Singer addresses privacy thoroughly in the passage and provides an objective view of the topic. One question that appears prevalent is how much information disrupts one’s privacy and how much can truly be shared. Some people argue that ignorance is bliss, and that the world is a better place being unaware of all the tragedy happening around it. However, being knowledgeable is important and a person should know what is occurring around them. To better society and keep people informed, one should be ethical and share pertinent information using tools such as WikiLeaks and “sousveillance.”

Fear is inevitably tied to the common saying “I am watching you”. When one’s actions are constantly monitored and privacy being relentlessly invaded, the individual soon will possess a sort of fear. In the novel Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, the government uses surveillance as a tool for exploiting the privacy of the people which then engages their fear.

As we invest our lives into the allurements of the Internet, our privacy has stowed itself into the relative anonymity of vast city populations. But these precious moments of privacy, hidden in the over abundance of lives and routines, will soon be threatened by facial recognition technology (Frey 2016). Any negative connotations surrounding surveillance is reciprocated by the Orwellian dystopia which is popular for its pessimistic perspective. Although these visions of a restrictive surveillance state are just fictional ambiguous representations, their concerns should not be easily dismissed (Richards 2013). Subconsciously, derived from Orwell’s ideas, we recognize privacy’s role in the effort to avoid dehumanizing a country, however, according to Neil Richards (2013, 1934), “we lack an understanding of what ‘privacy’ means in this context and why it matters”. It is most critical that we address these questions now as facial recognition technology becomes increasingly prominent in our everyday lives.

While I was reading “The Naked Crowd” by Jeffrey Rosen, it only took me a few pages to determine his motives through this writing piece. In the few paragraphs that I read read, I got the impression that Rosen was using all these high vocabulary words and definitions to really catch the reader’s attention. I had to really lock down and focus to really capture Rosen’s main idea. I got the sense that she wanted the future and present society to separate themselves from the illusion between an emotional connection and security. Thus being said, I can still be far off because truly it was very difficult for me to analyze this reading. I had to look up many definitions and terms but doing so helped me understand a little clearer. I enjoyed how he

In today’s online world, it is almost impossible to remain anonymous. With every website and service requiring a log in which stores personal information, and surveillance users are unaware is even there. Although this sounds like an invasion of personal privacy and loss of personal liberty, it has turned into the “norm” and most of the time goes on without even being questioned. In some cases, consensual surveillance has been turned into forms of entertainment. The average person online is very aware of the surveillance taking place, but it is likely they are unaware of the severity of the surveillance and the justification behind it. It is known that the main use of surveillance is to keep citizens safe and free from terrorist attacks

Today, individuals are sacrificing privacy in order to feel safe. These sacrifices have made a significant impact on the current meaning of privacy, but may have greater consequences in the future. According to Debbie Kasper in her journal, “The Evolution (Or Devolution) of Privacy,” privacy is a struggling dilemma in America. Kasper asks, “If it is gone, when did it disappear, and why?”(Kasper 69). Our past generation has experienced the baby boom, and the world today is witnessing a technological boom. Technology is growing at an exponential rate, thus making information easier to access and share than ever before. The rapid diminishing of privacy is leaving Americans desperate for change.

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).