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"You're being watched."
Let that statement sink in. Feels uneasy, doesn't it?
As Edward Snowden revealed to the world back in 2013, we were and still are being placed under surveillance by our respective governments or agencies around the world.
Is it entirely a bad thing, though? Well, let's delve deeper into this topic, shall we?
Sure, being watched is undoubtedly a form of intrusion of privacy. What makes it worse is that our governments/organisations under our governments are doing this - leaving us with nothing but our voices (both physical and digital) to express our discontent.
This issue of concern has been depicted a number of times in popular media. A good example would be from the recent film 'Jason Bourne' (Link to my review: http://themoviefella.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/jason-bourne.html).
In the film, the main subplot focuses on the CIA wanting to make a deal with a major social media firm in order to use the platform to gain access to all its users (pretty much the entire world).
It's a very relatable story and one that also reflects what's actually going on in the world right now. For all you know, Facebook is being used by agencies to track people. But of course, I'm just speculating.
However, what really is at stake? I mean, if they have access to our personal information (such as education history, background, etc), how much harm can they do? Nothing much, right? After all, what can someone do with knowledge of where you went for college?
It's when they can access more sensitive information, like credit card information or bank account details - like, can you imagine your lifetime savings being so unprotected? That's just an extreme overthought, though. So don't think too much of it.
There was also that case with the tabloid News of the World when they were exposed for hacking into phones of certain celebrities back in 2011 which led to the paper's closure. Yet another case of how people "up there" could be looking into our personal data.
Okay enough about the downsides, let's talk about how it maybe could be not as bad a thing as we make it to be.
For one, I think the main reason why our data is used by people "higher up" is only to aid in their search for specific people who have done wrong and thus are being hunted down.
Therefore, if you're innocent, there's really nothing to worry about. They can look through your details as much as they want but it doesn't matter because you're clean.
That's pretty much what I have to say about the matter, really. Do I detest surveillance? Well, personally I feel that it's something our governments may need to do in order to protect their people.
Surveillance enables the people using the data to stay vigilant and alert to any form of data they can obtain which may or may not cause concern to national security.
Yes, it's bothering that people are looking through your browser history, but if it helps in keeping us safe, why not?
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