Author: admin
Date: 07/11/2024
At this point, the notion of implementing effective safeguards and oversight over government surveillance seems increasingly naive — it may already be too late. Actually, it is too late. The vast, unchecked surveillance infrastructure that has been built over the last two decades is too deeply ingrained, too extensive, and too pervasive to be reined in by simple policy changes or reforms. The digital infrastructure that facilitates this surveillance is constantly evolving, outpacing efforts at regulation, and there are few signs that any meaningful reform will come in time to restore privacy and civil liberties. The government’s ability to monitor, track, and analyze vast amounts of personal data has created an ecosystem where transparency, accountability, and oversight are mere afterthoughts. The digital surveillance state is here, and it’s unlikely to be rolled back.
Moreover, as this surveillance infrastructure grows, so does the potential for digital warfare — not just between nations, but within societies. The weaponization of data, the exploitation of personal information, and the manipulation of digital platforms have already begun to erode trust and stability. It’s no longer just about national security or criminal activity; it’s about information control, political power, and ideological warfare. Governments, corporations, and even rogue actors can use the same surveillance tools that were initially justified for “security” to launch attacks on democratic institutions, manipulate public opinion, or silence dissent. In this new age, we’re all vulnerable — not just to traditional forms of warfare, but to a kind of digital warfare that blurs the lines between attack and defense, truth and manipulation.
What is most chilling is the realization that, as the surveillance net expands, none of us are safe. Our data, our movements, our conversations — all are ripe for exploitation, whether for political, economic, or military advantage. The lines between “the watched” and “the watcher” are increasingly difficult to discern. As digital surveillance becomes a tool for control and manipulation, it’s not just individual privacy that’s at stake; it’s the very fabric of democracy itself. In this new, hyper-surveilled world, we may never truly know who is watching us, nor what they will do with the power to shape our realities. The era of unchecked surveillance has opened the door to a digital future where none of us can escape the consequences of its misuse — and where none of us are truly free.
Author: admin
Date: 07/11/2024
The internet was once heralded as a revolutionary force for free speech and communication, opening new channels for expression and connection across the globe. It was a platform where individuals could share ideas, challenge authority, and access information without the constraints of traditional media. In its early days, the internet was a virtual marketplace of ideas, where anyone with a computer could become a creator, a journalist, or a critic, and where the flow of information seemed boundless and unregulated. Yet, as the internet has expanded, so too has its complexity—and its problems. Today, the internet is a bloated ecosystem overwhelmed by an ever-growing mass of users, content, and misinformation. It is simultaneously a place of censorship, distraction, and influence. The very thing that made it a bastion for free speech has now become a tool for control, shaping our perceptions of reality, and distorting the way we think, communicate, and relate to the world.
In the early days, the promise of the internet was one of free and unfettered exchange. From forums to blogs, individuals could speak their minds without fear of being silenced by gatekeepers. The internet empowered voices that were previously marginalized, giving rise to political movements, social change, and a broader democratization of information. However, over time, the internet has become increasingly censored, particularly by large corporations and government entities. Algorithms now dictate what content we see, often prioritizing sensationalized headlines, clickbait, and the opinions of mainstream influencers, while content that challenges the dominant narrative is sometimes buried or removed altogether. Social media platforms, once hailed as champions of free expression, now regularly censor speech under the guise of combating misinformation or promoting community standards, but this has often led to the silencing of dissenting views or controversial opinions.
This form of digital censorship is not always overt. In fact, it often operates through subtler means, such as algorithmic suppression or selective visibility. Social media platforms use complex algorithms to decide what content will reach the largest audience. As these platforms become more focused on maximizing engagement, they prioritize content that is polarizing, sensational, or emotionally charged, often at the expense of nuanced or thoughtful discourse. This algorithmic bias exacerbates political polarization, encourages echo chambers, and creates an environment where ideas are not debated but instead filtered through layers of corporate and political interests.
At the same time, the internet has become a space dominated by short-form content, particularly on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter (now X). The rapid rise of these platforms has shifted the nature of online engagement from long-form, in-depth discussions to quick, digestible snippets of information. While these platforms provide a new form of entertainment and self-expression, they also contribute to an increasingly distracted and fragmented way of interacting with the world.
Short-form content is designed to capture attention quickly, often with eye-catching visuals, catchy soundbites, and an emphasis on immediacy. In this environment, depth of thought is sacrificed for brevity, and users are encouraged to consume content in an almost compulsive, scroll-driven manner. As a result, we are conditioned to expect constant stimulation, which makes it difficult to engage with more complex or nuanced ideas. We are constantly moving from one viral video to the next, rarely pausing to consider the implications of the information we encounter. This pattern of distraction has profound implications for our ability to focus, think critically, and engage meaningfully with the world around us.
One of the most pernicious consequences of this shift is the explosion of misinformation. The ease with which false or misleading information can be spread online is staggering, and the sheer volume of content available makes it difficult for users to discern fact from fiction. Whether it’s doctored images, manipulated videos, or viral rumors, misinformation circulates with alarming speed, often outpacing efforts to debunk it. In a world where AI technology can create hyper-realistic videos of politicians engaging in fictional behaviors—such as “deepfake” videos of political figures making out—what becomes of our ability to trust our senses and reasoned judgment?
When reality is no longer tethered to the physical world, but is instead mediated by artificial intelligence, algorithms, and digital simulations, the line between what is real and what is fabricated becomes increasingly blurred. Deepfake technology and other forms of media manipulation have made it easier to create content that feels true, even when it is not. This has profound implications for how we form opinions, make decisions, and even understand our own identities. We can no longer rely on our own eyes or experiences to determine what is real, as the digital world offers an endless array of hyper-realistic images and videos that can be tailored to our preferences, biases, and emotions.
The internet has become more than just a tool for communication; it is shaping how we think and feel. The constant barrage of content, misinformation, and curated algorithms influences our emotional states, our political beliefs, and even our sense of self. We find ourselves increasingly disconnected from the tangible world and more immersed in a virtual realm where reality is fluid, subjective, and manipulated. What happens when we rely too heavily on digital platforms to inform our worldview? What becomes of our perception of truth when the lines between fact and fiction are constantly shifting?
The virtual world, once a place of limitless possibility and exploration, now often feels like a space of uncertainty and confusion. We have become so entwined with the internet that we are no longer passive users but active participants in the shaping of our own realities. Our thoughts, emotions, and decisions are increasingly influenced by the algorithms that govern our digital interactions. In this new reality, the question arises: what is reality when reality itself has become virtual?
The internet has undoubtedly transformed the way we communicate, access information, and interact with the world. What was once a bastion for free speech and unfettered expression is now a space marked by censorship, distraction, and the proliferation of misinformation. As we become more reliant on the internet for our understanding of the world, we risk losing touch with the complexities of reality. Short-form content, digital manipulation, and algorithmic control are shaping not only how we perceive the world, but how we engage with it. In this digital age, the question of what is real is no longer simple—it is constantly in flux, mediated by technology, and influenced by those who control the digital platforms. What is clear, however, is that we must reconsider our relationship with the internet and become more critical of the information we consume. Only by doing so can we hope to reclaim a sense of agency in a world where the boundaries between the real and the virtual are increasingly difficult to discern.
Author: admin
Date: 05/11/2024
We are all experiencing virtual reality with remnants of the old internet carefully built in to ease the transition. Eventually we will wake up one day and believe that nothing has changed at all. Reality will be no longer physical, but will we be able to notice?
The ultimate goal of surveillance capitalism is to keep you unaware of the truth – the nature of physical reality.
Author: admin
Date: 29/01/2023
It’s been ten years since the death of Aaron Swartz.
Every January I take a bit of time to reflect upon the legacy that Aaron left behind
for the modern internet user to consume. His wit, his conscious, his commitment to
change still, to this day, relieves me in this age of the “tech politic” in which the human
is now deeply, deeply embedded in. His words offer alleviation. His words still inspire many
across the real world, not just the technological world.
My internet behaviors were disrupted when I came across videos of Aaron speaking on the very topics that contributed to his death. He challenged the norm — he challenged the establishment — and he wanted the internet to remain free for all, as it should be. He opposed the privatization of knowledge. He tirelessly fought for this until his very last breath.
There is no justice in following unjust laws.
Imagine the change he could have made in the last ten years. He was just getting started. It is now up to the internet user to proceed, cautiously.
Will you join us?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Guerilla Open Access Manifesto
Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for
themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.
There are those struggling to change this. The Open Access Movement has fought
valiantly to ensure that scientists do not sign their copyrights away but instead ensure their work is published on the Internet, under terms that allow anyone to access it. But even under the best scenarios, their work will only apply to things published in the future. Everything up until now will have been lost.
That is too high a price to pay. Forcing academics to pay money to read the work of their colleagues? Scanning entire libraries but only allowing the folks at Google to read them? Providing scientific articles to those at elite universities in the First World, but not to children in the Global South? It's outrageous and unacceptable.
"I agree," many say, "but what can we do? The companies hold the copyrights, they
make enormous amounts of money by charging for access, and it's perfectly legal —
there's nothing we can do to stop them." But there is something we can, something that's already being done: we can fight back.
Those with access to these resources — students, librarians, scientists — you have been given a privilege. You get to feed at this banquet of knowledge while the rest of the world is locked out. But you need not — indeed, morally, you cannot — keep this privilege for yourselves. You have a duty to share it with the world. And you have: trading passwords with colleagues, filling download requests for friends.
Meanwhile, those who have been locked out are not standing idly by. You have been
sneaking through holes and climbing over fences, liberating the information locked up by the publishers and sharing them with your friends.
But all of this action goes on in the dark, hidden underground. It's called stealing or piracy, as if sharing a wealth of knowledge were the moral equivalent of plundering a ship and murdering its crew. But sharing isn't immoral — it's a moral imperative. Only those blinded by greed would refuse to let a friend make a copy.
Large corporations, of course, are blinded by greed. The laws under which they operate require it — their shareholders would revolt at anything less. And the politicians they have bought off back them, passing laws giving them the exclusive power to decide who can make copies.
There is no justice in following unjust laws. It's time to come into the light and, in the grand tradition of civil disobedience, declare our opposition to this private theft of public culture.
We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access.
With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us?
Aaron Swartz
July 2008, Eremo, Italy
Author: admin
Date: 21/04/2022
The internet isn’t fun anymore.
Remember when the internet wasn’t full of…corporations? It felt like an escape from the norm. It felt like a secret that wasn’t supposed to get out, even though we all knew what it was. We embraced the new age connectedness, and the mainstream giants took notice. And everything got bought out. And the internet became bigger and bigger, and began to berate you to contribute more and more information about your day to day life in order to use the encapsulating, attention-hungry, engagement-seeking service(s).
Innocent, right?
An Instagram post is harmless, right?
The post entails more than what the user realizes. Location, photo access, camera access, microphone access are all permissions needed to use many apps, including Instagram. Sometimes someone will retort “well my phone tracks me anyways” when I mentioned the dangers of contributing data to social media. Yeah, okay, but that doesn’t mean that you have to become complacent and numb to every other business that takes advantage of your ignorance of the issue of data ethics and privacy. You have nothing to hide? Do you want some schmuck to be able to pull up access to your electronic devices and tell me everything about you?
The average person is becoming more aware of this issue of the weaponized and brutalized gap in our rights as humans! But is this…meaningful? Facebook runs television ads to assure us that privacy is important….
People know that they are advertised specific products based on in person communication. But do they make change? They will still post on Instagram. They will still keep their Facebook accounts because their “family is still on it and it’s the only way to keep in contact.” No, it’s not. It never was. You have been carefully crafted into acceptance of the advancement and politicization of Big Tech.
Do you want privacy or convenience? Rather, do you want human rights or convenience? Does that get your attention? Human privacy reflects human rights, and it’s completely shattered. Now that privacy has been destroyed and dismissed, the human will be invaded through an extremely well rounded set of emotional manipulation, carefully crafted to overtake the individual and have real world consequences.
Author: admin
Date: 18/01/2022
In 2021 I posted a photo in a city’s subreddit that was almost immediately met with critique and criticism in the classic, unnecessarily vile Internet way. The picture contained a “camera tree,” which was made up of eight not-even-hidden devices pointed proudly at cars, pedestrians, and anything that happened to cross these paths. This was in addition to three cameras that had already been installed at this location a year earlier. My question accompanying the photo and post was simple: why?
I deleted the post an hour later due to the ill-informed comments I was receiving. OP, what did you do that was caught on camera? Why are you afraid of security camera footage? A couple folks decided to state in a rather matter-of-fact way that the camera quality is probably not even good and is definitely not stored in a server due to its low quality. (????) Other comments included Cops! I found the suspect you’ve been looking for! as well as Here’s someone who’s paranoid about security cameras that prevent crime. The Reddit upvote snitch system determined me to be the enemy, simply for the concern I had postured.
I did a bit of research and found out that this camera implementation process is a part of a multi-million dollar initiative to protect the city.
I sure as hell don’t feel protected when every place that I go to- gas stations, grocery stores, and all- will be recording this information and storing it forever. It is surely hard to grasp that this data is collected and preserved, and it’s even harder to grasp the immense value of this information. Folks I have spoken to lack an interest or care because of the lack of immediate danger. When I speak of a future where this data is weaponized and used against the individual, whether it be by means of full out war, or by means of a person to person basis, such as insurance restrictions, I am informed by the folks that I am conversing with that this is a dystopic, unrealistic attempt at scare tactics that is Not Going to Happen.
The days of worrying about the physical is gone; the immersion of tech offers a new reality (another linguistic trick!). Nuclear threats are real and fathomable, but for some reason the abuse of data is not on the forefront of our technology immersed minds. The Internet isn’t the real world…right?
When did we become so primed to accept the surveillance state as a part of everyday life? The false promotion and linguistic trick of security is sickening; we are all made out to be criminals by these new standards. This is a surveillance state, but maybe the linguistics must be altered again in order for recognition to be properly due. Welcome to the compliance state. Does that make the situation easier to digest, or worse?
That’s not a security camera – that’s a compliance camera.
Author: admin
Date: 22/11/2021
Do you understand that your online presence has resulted in a real world change on your emotions and behavior? Humans don’t seem to care. I don’t think it’s laziness; I think people truly do not want to remove themselves from social media at this point. They decide that the emotional manipulation is something that they should not worry about, because clearly it is not happening to them. The online presence continues, untouched, unaltered, and the websites continue to show them a feed that will do its absolute best to keep you engaged with its enraging content specifically designed for your consumption. (think of the linguistic manipulation here!) I cannot fully blame people who are wrapped up in this world; they have been tricked. They have been whisked away into a virtual reality that supports the idea of the human removing himself from his humanity under the guise of “Create this world full of content tailored for you and your interests. Do not allow other interests or opinions because they are wrong. Anyone who is different than you is wrong.”
Sometimes I am met with aggression from the party receiving my cyber ethics spiel. Excuses fill the air, some with varying levels of validity. An artist must show his art. Okay, I completely agree! However, the people that have given me this excuse have weaponized it and use their artistic endeavors as a social media mask as they continue to peruse the platforms like every non-artist. Maybe I’m generalizing here…
Even I have fallen prey, countless times. Events are announced on Instagram. Shows that I want to go see are announced on Facebook. I made a “fake Instagram” in order to attempt to keep up with these events, but I don’t want that application installed on my cell phone. Also, without even realizing it, I would end up scrolling for way longer than intended! Even someone who has dedicated their life to combating abusive technologies instantly fell under the spell after having an Instagram again for five minutes. If that does not clearly show you the issue at hand, you might be too far gone.
On a daily basis I implore and almost beg people to consider their online behavior and the cost it has on their real world actions because humans have been cornered and we must fight back. Our nature is being stripped away and being replaced with an enticing metaverse that allows for you to be whoever you want to be. Will this really come at no cost to us?
We absolutely must reverse engineer the technological human collective that we have become, for it will be the sword that will be fallen upon.
“I deleted my Instagram the other day because I realized that I was looking at hours upon hours of pictures of hot girls and other shit I don’t care about.“
Author: admin
Date: 07/11/2021
This is the beginning of a love letter to our planet, which encompasses our natural sense of being, which encompasses our reality, which has been replaced by the virtual realm.
The social engineering is blatant. The human is being altered and emotionally manipulated, even when doing basic tasks. I walk down the street; I see a billboard. I walk by someone’s yard; I see an advertisement for the lawn care company who just perfected the sculpting of the shrubs. These are simple forms of advertising that we have all become too accustomed. These forms were for the masses, however. The advertiser cast their net and could only hope that the ad would catch someone’s attention. We have been concerned about the content in these ads for a while, but just brush them off and note that it ‘just isn’t for me.’
Now every ad is for me. Every ad is for you. The digital world has allowed for the advertiser to purchase your personal information and figure out what makes you tick, what products you will probably peruse, and pretty much any piece of information that you have willingly surrendered to a website, which is a hell of a lot more than the average internet user realizes.
Sometimes people tell me that they enjoy the ads that are intrusively taking up their precious eye real estate. I cannot help but shake my head and feel absolutely devastated by the change in human behavior that is unfolding. You have been tricked. I have been tricked.
Internet 2.0 was amplified when The Facebook asked the user to input every piece of personal information. Name? Age? Gender? Birthday? Email? College? Address? Everything? Ask for the information, and the user shall gleefully provide, especially since the year is 2004 and the human has no clue how big the beast is that he is happily contributing to in order to get a date. All of this data for a date.
Now it’s ‘all of this data’ for any online service. Buy a product? Surrender information. Visit a website? Surrender information. Quick web search? You know that web search is with you forever now because that web search is in the hands of advertisers now. Everything is data when you are in the virtual world, making the user extraordinarily valuable to someone who wants to sell them something. ‘Download our app for a free sandwich’ actually means ‘You are selling your valuable data for three dollars and fifty two cents.’ Your information is worth way more than three dollars and fifty two cents. Why should you care, though? You’re only selling your data, ultimately your privacy, for a easy convenience of a free sandwich. Nicely done.
This is what caught my attention. Companies are making a whole lot of money off of the user using their service. Okay cool, whatever. They provide us with a free service that we use, and they make money. Awesome, sounds like a business. I can disagree with the underlying ethics, but it’s a business. Whatever. They’ve manipulated our emotions for monetary gain; this isn’t a new idea in the world of advertising.
However, my main concern, which has grown out of my anger towards the money collected off of my mere existence, lies within the inevitable abuse of the wealth of information constantly collected on Americans. I am well past the issue of money- I am concerned with the issue of the ultimate power that is contained within this data mine. With technology, advertisers learn more about us than we will ever be able to grasp. Emotions and attitudes are easily detectable with the AI used in basic applications, such as Spotify. If Spotify collects this, you damn well know that someone else is participating in this intrusive behavior as well. This data is passed to third party after third party, resulting in the total loss of any inkling of responsibility towards preventing abuse that may have been present in the beginning. It’s only a matter of time before a bad actor steps in, intercepts the information, and uses it maliciously, whether it be for sale on the Dark Web by some kid in a different country or collected and stored by our own trusted government. The data that we provide is our power, and we are willingly giving it up for convenience. The convenience is nowhere equal to the damage that can be done, since data will constantly be reused and exhausted in its infinite lifetime. We are surrendering our power to Big Tech, which moves much faster than the government that is needed to protect us from this abuse. We cannot rely on anything else other than unmanipulated human willpower. But our willpower is being comically diminished.
How can the human change once under the magician’s trick? I guess it’s all about awareness of these issues now. I’m exhausted.
There’s good news! The magician’s tricks are always decipherable; the manipulative subversion of the viewer’s attention is an actual cry of weakness. The viewer- the user of the technological realm- must pay attention and allow himself to realize that he has fallen prey to this manipulation. His realization must result in acceptance and then be converted into the rage-fueled desire for the change in attitude that is desperately needed. Maybe the human collective has this capability. Maybe it’s too late. I tend to take the more nihilistic route in approaching the subject of the ‘data realization revolution,’ but I must retain at least the smallest amount of hope that one day the revolution will be here and the human will fight for the right of his humanity.
The modification of behavior through emotional manipulation is a power grab that reaps the benefits of monetary gain, which is why this abuse will not stop unless the human collective realizes, accepts, and then acts. This shift in behavior is rigged in favor of Big Tech, for it has allowed for a total breach of any form of privacy in our current state. Do you care? Will you care?
Author: admin
Date: 30/07/2021
The plethora of privacy-focused ads that Big Tech has been beating into the consumers focus as of late does not change my sheepish opinion whatsoever. They are doing this because they must; privacy is front and center these days in the tech world, and rightfully so. But that doesn’t mean I have to trust Google or Facebook when they tell me that they’ve got my back. Someone sent me an email they received from Google a few months ago which highlighted new changes in the way information is handled and a promise to allow the customer a better understanding as to what happens to provided data. I couldn’t help but laugh. The veil is glaring; the veil is trendy. The veil is occurring because Americans are further becoming acquainted with the idea of data when the daily attack from elsewhere in the world occurs and personal information is leaked. Don’t worry, though! That won’t happen here. But it will. It always does. Our information is vulnerable. Don’t fall for the manipulation. I know the services are convenient and user friendly and better than the rest. I understand the convenience of Google Docs. But they are taking everything from you.
Maybe instead of a focus on an external threat, an internal menace can be realized. Don’t worry! We won’t sell your information to third parties, we will just harvest it and exploit it ourselves.
Author: admin
Date: 29/07/2021
The Starbucks drive thru greeted me with a slyly smiled woman plastered on an obnoxiously large high definition screen who promptly, almost in a robotic, somewhat childlike manner, began the transaction. My name is Heather. What’s your name? The grin didn’t leave her face. This isn’t a new question, and I am fully aware of the notoriety that Starbucks has when it comes to the offering of one’s alias, but I Did Not Like the way I was being approached in (what I thought) would be a simple exchange of money for goods. As its clear target, the camera was aimed at my soul so “Heather” could see me in my natural habitat, my safe zone, my car, my place where I dictate what devices are pointed where and who is recording what, my space. I am also privy to the fact that cameras are absolutely everywhere now, so it’s not like this whole drive thru thing is shocking, but it’s pretty frustrating due to its core functionality. What is the point of having your employee see the customer during a drive thru interaction, and then showing the customer what the employee is seeing? Well, that’s not the point. The naïve, unexplored answer is mostly because we have the capability to, so why not? and it meets success because of the FaceTime inspired, customer luring layout. In a more diabolical approach, however, Starbucks has battered a gold mine of data by having a camera front and center in what would normally be a less in-your-face interaction.
I also find it helpful to mention that I am aware that there have been video cameras installed at businesses for a long time with at least one or two being pointed at the drive thru and at least three or four being pointed at the employees. One fast food chain in particular has plenty of footage of me- way more than I would like to know. I have accepted this video culture due to complacency and acceptance that in order to do basic things, such as grocery shop, I will be caught on camera. I just did not realize that a camera would be pointed at my face when I am not expecting a camera to be pointed in my face. Maybe I’m the naïve one.
This may not be a big deal to many! Westerners are used to cameras being everywhere, and many of us absolutely embrace them. Plenty of folks will not bat an eye at the futuristic Starbucks drive thru where…oh wow! I get to see the employee before the window?…lacking an awareness of the utter power that the corporation has unlocked by implementing this process of ordering.
What’s your name?
I slithered my sunglasses onto my face and slid back into the seat. Heather. My name is Heather too. The pain was over immediately and I drove forward to collect. My data-concerned mind was trying to comprehend what Starbucks had just extracted from that fifteen second recorded interaction of which I provided no consent. But consent to accessing one’s data doesn’t matter in the virtual world.
Cameras directly pointed at the customer in a drive thru interaction is not limited to this corporation and is a practice that has increased rapidly over the past few years- I am aware. I am the most paranoid being I know in Hinblick auf surveillance cameras and am way too privy the fact that they are everywhere, absolutely everywhere now, so I can promise that my eyes narrow in on most cameras that I am in the presence of when in public spaces these days. But holy shit. A camera right in my face, showing Heather’s view of me while showing my view of Heather as I fanaticize about looking her dead in the eyes but instead shield myself from further facial analyzation as possible is a step too far. Is this a step too far, or is this step simply highlighting how it is already way passed being a step too far? Ten years ago cameras were more strategically hidden; now they are right in our faces. We love the camera, and the camera really loves us too.
So yeah. It’s a step too far for sure, but we already have cameras everywhere, whether they are hidden away or in our pockets through the handy cellular device or though the watchful eye in our cars. The sheer blatancy is repealing, and has been a capstone personal scowl of mine. I find it troublesome to desire coffee but to have to shed a bit of data to receive it. Yes, data is also collected from using a bank card, I know, I know, I know. Data is everywhere. Data is EVERYWHERE! I’m just sick and tired of unwillingly providing it to corporations that make an astronomical amount of money off of my recorded presence. I didn’t mean to comply to this world; the trickery is apparent with the manipulation of the folks growing up within the internet boom, which resulted in social media and the further discovery of digital information and the money making potential behind it, which further resulted in a shadow society that continues its process of breaking down when the careless implementation of unlawful, unethical tech takes over the culture. Okay?? I know I’ve been tricked into being complacent- we all have. What will the wake up call be? Will there be a wake up call? I fear an adjustment is lackadaisical when competing with the alluring taste of the virtual world. Why should humans fall back instead of advancing forward and embracing all technology with open arms? Everything in the digital realm is valuable, yet we do not yet understand many ethical variations that must come with this brand new type of human behavior. We cannot become complacent to something we do not fully understand the implications, but we cannot act in such regard without experiencing the implications. I don’t want my data exposed. But I know it is exposed, it has been exposed, and it will continue to be exposed because of the extraordinarily loose grip that we have when it comes to realizing the power of the internet and the lawless land that it has become. These records will haunt us. These records are haunting us, but the ignorance and careless nature assigned when utilizing tech shine through and overpower the natural sense of self. The natural sense of remaining offline. The natural sense of physicality. The natural sense of being.
What’s your name?