What is the future of digital cultures?

There have been many advancements that have happened over the decades and I think that the world should brace itself for a few more.

As computer games allow us to become more and more a part of them, with the invention of Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move it is a wonder what they will come up with next. Personally, i feel that they will go even further with that technology especially since we have surround sound  and cinema home systems already available. They could introduce games that are projected into your living room so that you are actually within the game's environment and you are surrounded by others.

I think that surveillance will also become a bigger issue than it already is now. The Daily Mail recently released an article stating that there is one CCTV camera for every 32 people in the UK.

This is a picture of a drone that could be in our skies in the near future if the Home Office gets their way. They have proposed that unmanned drones should be in the sky looking down onto the streets of Britain as well as CCTV cameras.  This is an example of how the fictional book 1984 is becoming more and more likely. As I outlined in my privacy blog, I don't think that we'll have that much privacy for much longer especially if the government now wants to have drones in the sky watching our every moves.

I think there are going to be many digital advancements in the future, though the one that really worries me the most is surveillance. Surely we are entitled to some privacy. We already have too many cameras watching our every move, do we really need anymore?

Privacy: does it really exist these days?

How often do we turn a corner and see one of these?

In my first blog I wrote about the UK turning into a Big Brother society with the amount of surveillance that we have. But, there is more to it than just CCTV.

Websites, the Sainsbury's Nectar card and the Tesco Clubcard and any other store cards can be seen as ways of surveillance too. They log everything that the customer buys and then sends them suggestions according to the things they have purchased.

Amazon has a recommending service which basically shows a list of things that are similar to something you have recently bought or looked at. Sainsbury's and Tesco send you vouchers for stuff that you buy and they give you points and money off as long as you buy the same things again.

You do not even have privacy in your own home as Google even targets people because it logs what you've been searching and then it sends you adverts catered to you. There is no getting away from the adverts targeting.

Anywhere that you go is tracked by CCTV. UK has the highest amount of CCTV cameras in the world alone. Is it really right that we're watched all the time? Should there be a limit to which we should be surveyed.

Although surveillance helps solve crimes and keep people safe from them, it can also cause controversy. There was recently a news story which explored the vast amount of CCTV in schools and whether it was really necessary.

I think that privacy within our own homes is starting to become less apparent. Even though we're not watched just yet, there is still the feeling that whatever you do someone will know about it. With the internet being so watchful as it is, it is only too easy to suggest that one day in the future people will not have any privacy at all especially as technology advances even more.

Are the advancements in technology pulling us into a "Big Brother" society?

According to the BBC “There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people.”  Is this a necessary amount to have or are we heading for a world that George Orwell portrays in his book '1984'? 

The progression of technology over the 20^th and 21^st century has allowed people to be observant of other people’s actions in an increasingly detailed way. We can now find out what people are doing every minute of the day through the likes of twitter and facebook.

 

The main force behind these advancements has been the military. Wars have prompted them to make new technology to try and find out where the other side is. For example they’ve created many different ways to survey people. The introduction of radar in 1940 and satellites in 1957 has today become detailed ways to identify where people are. A ship can tell if there’s a submarine near and an air base can tell if enemy planes are approaching. However, is the military using these advancements for a country's defence or do they have other agendas? With technology that is so accurate at pinpointing where someone is, is it really just used for spotting the enemy?

But, it’s not just the military and hierarchy who can watch people. The introduction of social networking sites has allowed normal people to track each other. Facebook is an example that can be used because it has the options to include details about your address and phone numbers along with various other things. Furthermore, the recent launch of facebook places has meant that users can pinpoint their own location.

By being a part of a social networking site we are becoming a part of the ‘Public Sphere,' a term coined by Habermas.  This means that we're all interacting with each other and become a part of a place where anyone can talk to anyone. This is more commonly known as hyperspace. 

Facebook, myspace and other sites are a great way of keeping in touch with our friends and family but are we really sure that we’re safe on these sites? When we put up all our information do we really know who’s looking at it?

The real question is, at the end of the day- are we submitting ourselves into a 'Big Brother' society by letting anyone and everyone access our information on the internet? With the amount of surveillance and technology that is now at our fingertips, it is almost certain that we can be tracked wherever we are.