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- Still from a recent Apple launch
In his iconic novel “1984”, George Orwell envisioned omnipresent “telescreens” in every home, business and on every street that could be monitored by the government. These screens were especially powerful because the subject never knew when the screen was being monitored or if, in fact, monitoring ever occurred. One had to live as though one were watched at all times.
As is often the case, truth seems to lie somewhere between the totalitarianism of Orwell’s “1984” and the hedonistic consumer dystopia of Huxley’s “Brave New World.” As two recent stories point out, our actual telescreens cost hundreds of dollars and have designer labels.
The useful GPS technology that allows us to navigate our way through city streets also allows government agencies to track our movements. Not in theory, but in practice. A recent story notes that agencies have made rampant use of cellphones to track the physical movements and identities of individuals. As long as we are not up to any wrongdoing, who cares? Except that the definition of “wrongdoing” is a tricky one. One Alabama sheriff used the technology to track his daughter’s whereabouts when she stayed out too late. Even more unsettling is the story of Michigan police who used the technology to note the identities of protesters at a labor union rally. And these are just the abuses that had been reported thus far.
Having taken part in many marches and protests during the Bush years, I observed that police utilized cameras as weapons of intimidation, recording the faces of each and every protester for purposes that remain unknown. Did they do this to create a record or merely the belief that such a record might exist? Was their object to record identities, prevent illegal activity or to intimidate peaceful protesters? In any event, it seems that these tactics have moved from digital cameras to mobile telephony. So while tools like Twitter and text messaging have been used by protesters around the world to organize and mobilize, mobile telephony may be just as useful for officials to monitor protest and “chill” dissent.
Meanwhile, do you know that little camera that sits on top of your computer screen or laptop–the one that may be pointed at you right now? How do you know that nobody can see you through it? If that seems silly, then you should read this story from CBS News about a high school sophomore who was spied on in his home by his school using the webcam in a school issued laptop. In this case, the danger is that this technology is not only exploitable by overeager officials, but by child predators either within the school system or who may hack into the school’s system. That is, it might not only be Big Brother who is watching, but Big Pervert. The FBI is investigating the incident, but it is unclear if they are looking for wrongdoing or pointers.
When a Philadelphia mainline school district starts taking pages from the playbook of Orwell’s Oceania, privacy advocates and consumers should take note. With mobile computing on the rise, hundreds of millions of Americans are using objects that may be used to track their movements and to view their lives. As cameras and GPS systems become more prominent in these devices, there is every reason to suspect that our personal devices may not be as personal as they seem.