The Circle: Surveillance

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Recommended: How technology is invading our privacy

Imagine a world completely devoid of privacy. Everything you do can be seen by others around the world through tiny cameras that are planted everywhere. There is no place to go without being under the scope of at least one camera. How would life like this be like? Would people feel comfortable being watched by others for every moment of their life? Is there a point where privacy needs to be respected and the surveillance is too much? These are the kinds of questions that The Circle, a 2017 film directed by James Ponsoldt, attempts to get its viewers to think about. The movie is about the journey of Mae Holland and her actions in a technology company, which also happens to be called The Circle. From her first days at work up to the end of the movie, Mae gets more …show more content…

Many big tech companies silently collect data when people use their products. For example, Facebook has a hidden sneaky feature that attempts to collect data from their phone users based on what they speak into the phone microphone. Google also secretly collects data about the physical world and who lives where through their Street View technology. Both technologies attempt to increase transparency by revealing more information about others to more people. This brings up a concern regarding the privacy that people will have in the future. As technologies continue to further rapidly grow, we may ultimately reach a point where privacy becomes nonexistent. Certain actions such as withdrawing cash from an ATM and unlocking a safe may phase out should privacy become nonexistent. Transparency has continued to increase and likely will continue to do so as more sophisticated technologies appear. Will tech companies ever draw a line as to when to stop lowering the amount of privacy people have? Possibly, but only the future will

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