surveillance and censorship

Question 1

surveillance

Answer 1

targeted observation of a person over a long period of time in order to get information about them

Question 2

USA patriot act

Answer 2

was passed following the 9/11 attacks under the veil of national security which allowed the searching of email and phone records without a warrant, openly conducting surveillance on us and foreign citezens

Question 3

what are some criticisms of the USA patriot act

Answer 3

lack of consent
created tension between positive and negative freedom

Question 4

positive freedom

Answer 4

freedom to do something e.g. freedom of speech

Question 5

negative freedom

Answer 5

freedom from interference e.g. from harm

Question 6

the panopticon as method of surveillance

Answer 6

you’re not sure when you’re being watched therefore you act accordingly all the time
e.g. office based surveillance; keystroke monitoring, email flagging
amazon; replaceable workers, tracking time off task, works on a culture of fear

Question 7

how does chinas social credit system work

Answer 7

you must download software on your device that tracks your movements and rewards what is seen as trustworthy and having a low score can mean that you are blacklisted from certain opportunities and services, you are also encouraged to report untrustworthy behaviour

Question 8

criticism of chinas social credit system

Answer 8

how can you measure trustworthiness
how hard is it to build your score back up
what about political freedom
encourages your close friends to surveil you

Question 9

sousveillance

Answer 9

the recording of activity by members of the public

Question 10

biometric surveillance

Answer 10

eg biometrics cards and facial recognition

Question 11

censorship

Answer 11

the control of information and ideas in soceity

Question 12

reasons to censor

Answer 12

there are exceptions to free speech as sometimes it can cause harm
public health and safety
crime prevention
protecting the reputation of others
national security

Question 13

the shock doctrine

Answer 13

the exploitation of crises to install policies whilst people are too disoriented and afraid to resist

Question 14

corporate strategy

Answer 14

selling surveillance as safety
eg pushing for contactless payments as all transactions are fully traceable

Question 15

surveillance capitalism

Answer 15

the government and big tech work together as crises are profitable which is why there is an incentive to manufacture and not fix crises
big tech also sell behaviour data to governments so they can spy on citezens