1984 Technology And Privacy

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.

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.

In the novel 1984, by George Orwell, there is a society that has become a negative utopia, in where there is a party named Big Brother that watches over all of its people at all times using mainly their invention of the telescreen. Likewise, many people have phones, computers, tablets, and even televisions that have functions such as a camera and video usages. Companies that create these products have credibility and the trust of the public that they would not use the cameras on their phone for surveillance and that's where people seem to be fine with the whole thing. Another thing to be worried about is also public cameras or street cameras which can monitor groups of

In the brainwashed society of Oceania in 1984, by George Orwell, led by a totalitarian government in the name of a leader known as Big Brother, citizens are placed under constant surveillance from the government, preventing them from having individuality and freedom of thought. Although written in a fictional setting, the book strikes analogous similarities to the United States in today’s world. Due to a growth in surveillance, personal information and privacy are being intervened, however, not violated. While technological advances are increasing and crimes such as hacking and terrorism are becoming more prominent in society, government surveillance is becoming largely needed to ensure the protection

Similar to how telescreens work in 1984, our society has personal information analyzed and recorded by the government. Data collection is a turning more to privacy taken away from citizens. If people are constantly being under surveillance, people start to lose their individuality because people transform into automatons. On (1.5.65) Winston says, "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away." This quote explains the significance of privacy, as even the smallest things in society matter. Orwell is foreshadowing the increasingly tighter surveillance on citizens and that affects society today because our society today is becoming more similar to the one portrayed in

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves”(Reagan). In the book, 1984, Winston recognizes the power the government has over the citizens of Oceania. The citizens lack privacy from the government. George Orwell warns society about a government with total control in 1984. Based on Dana Hawkin’s article, “Cheap Video Cameras Are Monitoring Our Every Move”, as well as Beech Etal’s, “The Other Side of the Great Firewall”, society may truly have something to fear in the form of surveillance and information manipulation.

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.

Big Brother will know. 1984 was written in 1949 and Orwell hinted at technology which

Many Americans are being watched, in great detail, by the government. In its ongoing battle against crime and terrorism, the U.S. has ramped up its surveillance on individuals over the years. As in the book, 1984, by George Orwell, "Big Brother Is Watching You". Many people feel that this surveillance is a major invasion of privacy and a violation of their rights.

Total surveillance. Complete obedience. Absolute authority. The world of 1984 scared me when I first read the book last year. Never before had a book made me think so deeply about individuality, society, and government. 1984, a manifestation of my nightmares, described a totalitarian police state of resolute submission. The horror came when I looked upon our own society, and Big Brother glared back at me. We live in a world where every phone call, every text, every search, and every email can be monitored and recorded by our own government. The National Security Agency, or the NSA, was originally proposed to monitor threats outside of the United States, but the NSA began domestic surveillance shortly after the horrific terror attacks of 2001. This cleared the way for warrantless, unlawful tracking of American citizens. Initially, the program collected only the data of high-risk individuals in America with direct links to Al-Qaeda. Now, however, government data collection has spread to millions of otherwise innocent citizens. Government surveillance is a direct violation of the privacy of American citizens that is dangerous, immoral, and unlawful.

From all the readings, there is evidence on how you can compare our society to an Orwellian one like Oceania. In 1984, they were obvious about how they watched you and kept you under their control with drones, telescreens and even with thoughtpolice, but with our country, they use a sneakier way of getting that information out which is through our social media, phones, computers and even surveillance cameras to places we visit. In my perspective, I can see how these two things relate to one another. People should not give up their privacy for the greater good if nothing will come out of it.

The lack of privacy, in both “1984” and present society is detrimental, and has the ability to completely control and intimidate an entire community; therefore preventing society to move forward and progress. In 1984, Orwell is able to establish a lack of security. There are insecurities and worries behind every corner because, “Big Brother is watching you,” and it’s uncontrollable. In Winston’s case, thoughtcrime is a reoccurring theme in his life; and with the lack of privacy in his world, he knows that “thoughtcrime does not entail death, thoughtcrime is death”. Unfortunately, with the everyday struggle that is faced by the people of Oceania, privacy is not, and has never been granted and never will be.

A world beyond what George Orwell could imagine has been created in modern society through the use of not only government surveillance, but also corporate and consumer spying where users are often unaware of spying.. 1984 is set in a neo-communist society where the government controls production of goods and spies on its citizens in order to maintain power. In the modern era, surveillance takes a different form. Often the methods for spying on citizens in the US do not involve a direct line from the NSA to the citizen’s home, it usually takes a detour through a commercial setting. By partnering with major companies such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, government surveillance programs are able to collect far more information than could be gained by simply tapping telephone lines. This is more disturbing since many companies including Verizon, AT&T, Apple, and Amazon do not require a warrant to supply information to investigators, and do not notify users of data requests.

As citizens of America we are all entitled to our rights of privacy. When something threatens this guaranteed privacy we tend to take extra precautions to prohibit prolonged violation. As the advancing world of technology continues to grow and expand, so do the amount of cases involving privacy invasion. Technology drives these privacy-invading crimes; however, crime also drives technology, creating a vicious cycle. Without technology an invader could not enter that of a stranger’s life. Conversely, without technology that same criminal would evade the law enforcers. So does technology protect citizens’ privacy, or does it expose one’s entire life? In regards to this question, one must