I did not immediately post on the initial readings for iSpy because I felt I needed to time to meditate (and frankly stew) over what I had read. While none of the overarching points made by Andrejevic came as a surprise, I was astonished as to the effect their condensed form had on me. I didn't really understand my feelings until after the class discussion.
In all honesty, I was shocked at the majority of the class' response. Shocked that the same people who had, presumably, just read the same chapters I had, could act so blase when it came to their privacy (internet or otherwise). I am not one to stand on a soapbox and proclaim that "Big Brother is watching" and we all must rise against him, but I suppose I naively thought that people (especially politically aware students) would care more.
"Is being data mined really that bad?" Truth: the action of being data mined causes no direct effect or harm to your person. However, the data gathered whether it be shoe preferences or credit card numbers, could potentially used against you in the future. Sure those advertisements on the sides of your web browser don't pose a threat to your safety so much as an annoyance but they are merely the small visual reminders that anything and everything you do on the internet is being monitored. Maybe not directly but by recording everything from click streams to buying preferences the supposed "realm of free space" the internet is supposed to be quickly became one of the easiest platforms upo
n which to be surveilled.
I was struck most when Prof. Dean had to resort to dramatic examples to make comparisons to internet surveillance that people could connect to. The thought of being followed around all day seemed preposterous to some but the idea of having every movement on the internet tracked was okay. Flipping through someone's planner to discover their future dates etc was an invasion of privacy but reading personal emails was not. I suppose I am lost as to why people fail to see the connection without making such obvious parallels.
1 comment:
I feel the same sense of both loss and miscommunication when our peers announce their level of comfort with the entire institution of privatizing our information, and then profiting from it.
Why do you think that is? Why are some of it comfortable and some of us not? Aren't we all the same post 9-11 age? Aren't we a generation that is used to wire-tapping? W
On a purely economic note, it's basically like being the only one doing groupwork, of someone taking the fruits of your labor and getting money from it.
Post a Comment