Perhaps Big brother is not just a reality TV show, littered with forgotten celebrities and star struck wannabe’s. Perhaps the show that is scrutinised and dismissed as simply ‘tack,’ holds more substance. Is it in fact, offering an eye opener of a future society or the society that we are already unconsciously living in?
The UK government are developing increasingly sophisticated gadgets to keep individuals under their surveillance. Big Brother techniques such as CCTV and recording equipment, our creeping into every aspect of our lives and Britain is in danger of sleepwalking into a surveillance society.
Civil liberties are fading as e-mail monitoring and computer tracking furthers the surveillance knot that we are trapping ourselves into. High Tech listening devices are also becoming a concern, as they continue to be placed in lamp posts, street furniture and offices.
There are more than four million CCTV Cameras in England, one for every 14 people. Big Brother is watching us and is not simply a channel four TV show. The cameras are not only pointing at the Big Brother house in Hertfordshire, it is not a unique experience for the chosen housemates. The cameras are pointing at everyone. Channel four is merely offering a slice of what England continues to become.
When you order a Chinese Takeaway, the immediate demand is a name and address. These details are not quickly disposed of after you have placed your order; they are innocently installed on a computer database. The next minute you receive a phone call from a kitchen installation company who announce your details before a word has even left your lips. Does this sound familiar? Your identity as you may like to think of it, is unique. It is the one thing that can separate you from the crowd. However, in a society that is slowly becoming suppressed under the force of an eye, perhaps this is a fading truth.
The UK government are developing increasingly sophisticated gadgets to keep individuals under their surveillance. Big Brother techniques such as CCTV and recording equipment, our creeping into every aspect of our lives and Britain is in danger of sleepwalking into a surveillance society.
Civil liberties are fading as e-mail monitoring and computer tracking furthers the surveillance knot that we are trapping ourselves into. High Tech listening devices are also becoming a concern, as they continue to be placed in lamp posts, street furniture and offices.
There are more than four million CCTV Cameras in England, one for every 14 people. Big Brother is watching us and is not simply a channel four TV show. The cameras are not only pointing at the Big Brother house in Hertfordshire, it is not a unique experience for the chosen housemates. The cameras are pointing at everyone. Channel four is merely offering a slice of what England continues to become.
When you order a Chinese Takeaway, the immediate demand is a name and address. These details are not quickly disposed of after you have placed your order; they are innocently installed on a computer database. The next minute you receive a phone call from a kitchen installation company who announce your details before a word has even left your lips. Does this sound familiar? Your identity as you may like to think of it, is unique. It is the one thing that can separate you from the crowd. However, in a society that is slowly becoming suppressed under the force of an eye, perhaps this is a fading truth.
Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas predicts a “world in 2016 where technology is extensively used to track and record people’s movements and activities. He predicts shoppers will wear unique tags embedded in their clothes, which will be scanned as they enter any store and aerial “friendly flying eyes in the sky”. Privacy will become an unrecognised privilege and as George Orwell writes in his novel ‘nineteen eighty four’ “ all pleasures will be destroyed.”
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