Privacy and surveillance. Communications & Media Research Paper

Privacy and Surveillance 2
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Privacy and Surveillance 2
Currently, there is a lot of information available everywhere we go, which is beyond our control. Every click of the button on our computers opens us up to new sources of information that is more complex than the previous source and more intriguing than expected. Most of us are tempted to think that we are in control of the information about ourselves, but the truth is that we have become overwhelmed by the state of affairs.
The article “We Are Drowning in Data” by Charlie Warzel provides a clear perspective of what the current system of information technology is. More stories seem to come up every day, brewing more technical problems, and when we think that we have found a solution, another problem emerges. Zeynep Tufekci, in her article “Think You’re Discreet Online? Think Again,” confirms the sophisticated nature of the internet by claiming that this digital innovation could be knowing us more than we think. According to Tufekci, our privacy is one thing that was already compromised a long time ago, and we can no longer voluntarily opt-out. The personal computers we carry in the form of digital mobile phones serve as tools to monitor us.
Big Data companies have found ways to rob us of our privacy using every possible way they can. They have influenced the creation of tools meant to help us better our lives to suit their own needs. The devices are set not as direct mechanisms of monitoring out movements, but as tools of convenience that we need for our own good. Boone Ashworth, in “The Terrible Anxiety of Location Sharing Apps,” talks about some of these applications, which include Google Maps, Find My Friends, among others. These apps promise a piece of mind when being installed but end up monitoring us. As best expre...