Surveillance, a key theme in dystopian literature, has real-world implications in our digital age. This section offers a thought-provoking look into the complexities of surveillance practices by governments and corporations. It discusses the technologies used, the justifications provided, and the implications for individual privacy and societal freedoms. The resources in this section blend historical perspectives with current developments, encouraging a nuanced understanding of how surveillance shapes our lives and our world.
- “Uh-Oh: Silicon Valley is Building a Chinese-Style Social Credit System” explores the emergence of a social credit system in the United States, akin to the one in China. The Chinese system, active since 2014, uses surveillance-based technology to score citizens’ behavior, rewarding or punishing actions like support for certain religious groups, financial habits, and social behavior. Similar systems are developing in the US due to Silicon Valley tech policies and private company surveillance raising concerns about its extralegal nature and implications for democracy.
- “Behind the Data: Investigating Metadata” is a comprehensive guide focusing on the use of metadata to expose, protect, and verify abuses and excesses of power. The guide provides insights into tools for extracting, stripping, and adding metadata, and highlights metadata’s role in modern investigative journalism and advocacy, especially in documentation and evidence collection. Understanding and managing metadata is crucial for self-protection and safeguarding one’s work in today’s interconnected digital environment.