Modern Life
Big Brother is here. He's been here for a while, and more and more often now, we're inviting him into our homes and our lives. Orwell was right, though he was wrong about the date.
We value our privacy. Those of us who have read 1984 have folded themselves with Winston into his special corner in his apartment to savor a moment without surveillance, of thinking our own thoughts, and just of being ourselves. We have cringed at the thought of such total surveillance that, when we put down the book, we seem to have gasped for air and started to breathe again. Yet, we now consent to have people and computers monitor us at will, without giving it a second thought. One way we invite such voyeurs is with our computers and smartphones. They can easily be hacked, their cameras and speakers activated, and our every movement and conversation followed. Hello, Ministry of Justice.
In the mornings, I check Facebook. Every time I click on a post, the holy algorithms gather information on my interests, and then send me suggestions I roundly ignore. But, even though I ignore them, someone can check and see more about me than I would like a stranger to know. The same thing happens whenever I use Google to search for information. At the moment I am free to publish what I want, which doesn't mean the government might not try to take me before a judge if I publish something they consider falls under a libel or anti-terrorism law, as is being done more and more in Spain. If the conservatives get to pass a law they want to pass, the government will be able to shut me out of internet altogether. Just because of my viewpoints.
The banking community is also using technology to cut costs. As banks merge, and offices close, more clients are assigned to one office. Rather than amplify their office hours and hire more personnel, the banks offer incentives to do banking online, such as reduce or eliminate certain fees. (Which doesn't mean they still won't charge you to do transactions online.) Online banking seems secure enough, especially if you are taught which address is the correct one, and never give out your passwords if anyone asks for them. But hackers have existed ever since the modem was invented, and a good hacker can get into a bank's online system and wreak havoc with your money. So you think that if you only have a couple of hundred euros in the bank, they'll go for another account? You think a bank robber/hacker is going to be ethical and leave you twenty euros for groceries? You really do believe in fairy tales, don't you?
Those of us with more money and who love to do things with just the push of a button, also buy internet-connected appliances. The most obvious one is the television. Now, televisions are smart and interactive and can almost be used as computers. Because of their interactivity, your viewing sessions do not remain in your living room. People on the other side of the television you're interacting with can know what you watch and when you watch it. They can also figure out any information from a USB stick you plug in. Careful with the pirated version of that show you downloaded.
There are also refrigerators that make you a list of comestibles you have to replenish. And lights or an alarm system you can turn on and off from your smartphone ten miles away. And the newest washers and dryers, that you can connect from work to have your load done before you get home. All of which can help thieves know if you're at home or not. Another thing that can help a thief make his way around your home is an iRobot. They can connect to internet, so you can turn it on when you're not home. It also memorizes the obstacles in the area it's designed to clean, so a hacker can learn the layout of your home easily. I'll keep to the broom and dustpan technology.
It's not just the surveillance cameras we were afraid of twenty or thirty years ago anymore. I remember there was an outcry in some cities, where the cameras were placed so they might be focused on the windows of private residences. Now, those are the least of our worries. The cameras are now inside our homes, and unless we become troglodytes in the modern world, there's little we can do about them. Get ready to use a lot of post-it notes and plenty of tape and gauze. We can still muffle them manually and think our own thoughts.
We value our privacy. Those of us who have read 1984 have folded themselves with Winston into his special corner in his apartment to savor a moment without surveillance, of thinking our own thoughts, and just of being ourselves. We have cringed at the thought of such total surveillance that, when we put down the book, we seem to have gasped for air and started to breathe again. Yet, we now consent to have people and computers monitor us at will, without giving it a second thought. One way we invite such voyeurs is with our computers and smartphones. They can easily be hacked, their cameras and speakers activated, and our every movement and conversation followed. Hello, Ministry of Justice.
In the mornings, I check Facebook. Every time I click on a post, the holy algorithms gather information on my interests, and then send me suggestions I roundly ignore. But, even though I ignore them, someone can check and see more about me than I would like a stranger to know. The same thing happens whenever I use Google to search for information. At the moment I am free to publish what I want, which doesn't mean the government might not try to take me before a judge if I publish something they consider falls under a libel or anti-terrorism law, as is being done more and more in Spain. If the conservatives get to pass a law they want to pass, the government will be able to shut me out of internet altogether. Just because of my viewpoints.
The banking community is also using technology to cut costs. As banks merge, and offices close, more clients are assigned to one office. Rather than amplify their office hours and hire more personnel, the banks offer incentives to do banking online, such as reduce or eliminate certain fees. (Which doesn't mean they still won't charge you to do transactions online.) Online banking seems secure enough, especially if you are taught which address is the correct one, and never give out your passwords if anyone asks for them. But hackers have existed ever since the modem was invented, and a good hacker can get into a bank's online system and wreak havoc with your money. So you think that if you only have a couple of hundred euros in the bank, they'll go for another account? You think a bank robber/hacker is going to be ethical and leave you twenty euros for groceries? You really do believe in fairy tales, don't you?
Those of us with more money and who love to do things with just the push of a button, also buy internet-connected appliances. The most obvious one is the television. Now, televisions are smart and interactive and can almost be used as computers. Because of their interactivity, your viewing sessions do not remain in your living room. People on the other side of the television you're interacting with can know what you watch and when you watch it. They can also figure out any information from a USB stick you plug in. Careful with the pirated version of that show you downloaded.
There are also refrigerators that make you a list of comestibles you have to replenish. And lights or an alarm system you can turn on and off from your smartphone ten miles away. And the newest washers and dryers, that you can connect from work to have your load done before you get home. All of which can help thieves know if you're at home or not. Another thing that can help a thief make his way around your home is an iRobot. They can connect to internet, so you can turn it on when you're not home. It also memorizes the obstacles in the area it's designed to clean, so a hacker can learn the layout of your home easily. I'll keep to the broom and dustpan technology.
It's not just the surveillance cameras we were afraid of twenty or thirty years ago anymore. I remember there was an outcry in some cities, where the cameras were placed so they might be focused on the windows of private residences. Now, those are the least of our worries. The cameras are now inside our homes, and unless we become troglodytes in the modern world, there's little we can do about them. Get ready to use a lot of post-it notes and plenty of tape and gauze. We can still muffle them manually and think our own thoughts.
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