12/25/2022 0 Comments Hero or Traitor? Private or Public?![]() Whether one considers Snowden a hero or a traitor may depend on their personal beliefs about government surveillance, privacy, and national security. Even though Snowden stated that he sees himself as neither a traitor nor a hero, his reasoning for disclosing information about any wrongdoing mirrors a hero. A hero is a person who, in the opinion of others, has remarkable achievements and is noted for courageous acts or nobility. After watching the Ted talk, "Here's how we take back the Internet," in class, it is evident that Edward Snowden matches this definition, considering how he revealed the extent of the U.S. government's surveillance of its citizens and foreign nationals. In 2013, Snowden, a contractor working for the National Security Agency (NSA), leaked classified information about secret government programs that collected massive amounts of data from phone and internet communications. Snowden is courageous and selfless. To start, Snowden took a significant personal risk to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. In other words: "Edward Snowden is the lion that bit the head off the dog" (Anderson). This quotation perfectly encompasses and expands on his bold ambition. In my opinion, he acted courageously in the face of potential harm and damaging legal repercussions because he wanted to safeguard people's liberties and privacy. He declared that "if we [humans] don't stand up to make the changes we need to do to keep the Internet safe, not just for us but for everyone, we're going to lose that, and that would be a tremendous loss." (Snowden) Some people may be afraid of the consequences of speaking out or taking action, especially if they are vulnerable or if the issues they are advocating for are controversial or unpopular. Snowden shows the traits of a hero when having the same sense of moral responsibility as those who do stand up for change. Furthermore, demonstrating the traits of a hero, Snowden was willing to sacrifice his safety and well-being to expose what he saw as a severe violation of civil liberties. Snowden realized that by disclosing the material, he would probably be prosecuted and forced to flee his country and live in exile. Nevertheless, he decided to speak up and draw attention to the problem, displaying a strong sense of altruism and a willingness to put the interests of others ahead of his own. The purpose of Snowden's leaks was to do minor damage to both the functioning of the government and the people instead of gaining the most negative attention towards the government possible. Overall, Snowden is handling the situation with respect and caution. His actions remind me of a quote from the book 1984: "For the first time he perceived that if you want to keep a secret you must also hide it from yourself" (Orwell 354). Winston has to keep all of his hatred locked up, which the activist compared to a cyst, so that his camouflage would not go down and he would have the ability to live another day. In a real-life situation like the one Snowden shows, he remains composed. ![]() Additionally, Snowden's disclosures sparked a debate about the balance between national security and individual privacy. Since he has taken part in countless interviews and appearances in public, such as the Ted Talk, this has revealed for many that there are several privacy issues in the 21st century, specifically data collection. I see the most harm that people need to be made aware of the information on them that is being gathered, how it is being utilized, and how it might be shared or revealed. For instance, users of online services or applications, ranging from Amazon to Instagram, can be forced to accept long terms of service agreements that describe the data being gathered. I am confident that a large population is not aware of what data is being collected about them. This huge privacy issue limits people's control over their data! Even Snowden suggested, "Our expectation of privacy is violated when the capabilities of government surveillance have become cheaper by order of magnitude, and each time that occurs, we need to revisit and rebalance our privacy rights" (Snowden). It has become so simple for companies to know everything about a person with the simple press of an "Accept" button. Data collection can also limit people's control by making it difficult or impossible for them to opt-out of having their data collected. This shows that these privacy rights need to be reviewed and rebalanced. Improving the idea behind this issue will take work. Our world is already so used to the issue of data collection that it is unlikely to go through a day without having a single piece of information gathered by the government. It is as if there are "always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or bed—no escape" (Orwell 34). Day-to-day actions are watched unwillingly (even though we clicked on the accept button), meaning that every link one accesses, every video one watches, and every advertisement one falls for is being tracked. People will feel more vulnerable and exposed as data collection, which I believe is the most significant privacy issue of the 21st century, worsens.
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12/8/2022 0 Comments Big Brother in our homes!?![]() Artificial intelligence, autonomous automobiles, interactive robotics, and flawless facial and speech recognition. Do we rely on these moments of our day when we are fascinated by artificial intelligence in daily used technologies so much that we forget that they are the big brother of our homes? The famous words “BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU” (Orwell 4) should ring more alarms than it is. When relating these words to an article from Abel, published in 2018, Mowles agrees that humanity is becoming more comfortable with computer systems simulations of human intelligence processes. When comparing this comment with the novel 1984 written by Orwell, there is one main difference: The population of Oceania has no choice but to become comfortable with the confrontation that there is constantly someone somewhere watching, while in the present day, the number of AI watching one is controlled by the person alone. An example of this can be found in all homes currently, which is known as Google Home and Alexa. Mowles discloses, “My concern is that it doesn’t only listen when you say the word; that it’s going all the time.” (Abel) In the context of the novel, there is no concern about someone constantly listening since it is simply an ordinary situation in which one can find themselves. When comparing this to the artificial intelligence found in the Google Home and Alexa speakers, they are programmed only to listen after one says the “key word,” but the article theories that there is more to the bigger picture than simply this. Overall, there is no saying what the future holds in terms of controlling the amount of privacy remaining to ourselves, unlike the citizens of 1984, whom Big Brother constantly watches. 12/8/2022 0 Comments From 1984 to 1989![]() A totalitarian government is a political systerm that asserts total control over its citizens. An example of these would be the chinese government, specifically the incident in spring of 1989, and the government of Oceania in the novel "1984". Both are situations where the government manipulates the citizens' minds over reality and uses violence if the individuals do not obey the rules. The Tiananmen Square incident happened when there was growing sentiment among university students and others in China for political and economic reform. To retake control of the area, troops advanced toward an ongoing protest on Tiananmen Square between June 3 and 4. They opened fire, and crushed, and arrested protesters as they moved toward the square. The death toll has been pegged at 10,000 according to most estimations, compared to the government's estimate of 200 deaths. The government has typically tried to censor mentions of the occurrence throughout the years. The act of remembering the incident in public is forbidden. This incident fits the quotation from 1984 ideally: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." (Orwell 44). If the citizens of Oceania look back at the unaltered history, it will be evident that the government is not as good as it claims to be (similar to the protests of 1989). Once they realize this, they start questioning the government, which will eventually lead to revolting against it and trying to bring it down. Once they are aware of this, they begin to doubt the government, which eventually causes them to rebel and try to overthrow it. Therefore, much propaganda is in place both in the novel and China to prevent these situations. To prevent these situations, it is critical to continue spreading awareness. These incidents are not to be forgotten since our memory is the only thing keeping those deaths and the violence hidden possible. |
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