Welcome to dystopia now, the show that asks are their elements of a dystopia in our society today. I am your host Ava and today we are talking about if citizens of our society today are under constant surveillance. 

But before we get into that we have to lay out some base information. What does the word surveillance actually mean? Well according to the Merriam-webster dictionary it means close watch kept over someone or something. There is also something called audio surveillance which is the act of listening to other people’s conversations and recording them. I am going to lay out some ways we might be being surveilled today whether it is visual or audio. This is something that is very prevalent in our society today. Today I am going to be discussing subjects such as smart speakers, virtual assistants, cameras in our devices and targeted ads. That’s right today I’m discussing the possibility that we much like citizens in a dystopia, are under constant surveillance.  

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Alright now let’s get into it. What are some ways that we are being watched or listened to? First, I want to talk about smart speakers like google home and amazon echo. Most people have these in their home. But are they listening to us? Well, it’s hard to say these devices are programed to be constantly listening but to only start recording when you say the wake word (Alexa hey google) after you say that your conversation is recorded and uploaded to the cloud so that the device can figure out what you’re saying and answer also your conversations are looked at by the company whether its amazon, google or apple to improve the device. However there have been times when these devices mishear things and are activated without people realizing. I know in our family we have a google home and there have been times when were just talking and google will start saying something. You can also get the opposite where it won’t respond when you’re trying to talk to it. However, through the devices privacy settings you can opt out of having your recordings viewed by employees. This also applies to Siri and other phone assistants. The next thing I want to talk about is cameras on phones and laptops, are they watching us or taking pics or videos without us knowing. The answer is yes, and no. Hackers can hack your laptop to spy on you through your webcam. There are also certain apps that can be downloaded onto your phone that others can use to track you. However, the companies themselves are not doing this. But what about when we get an ad that feels just a little too targeted? Turns out we are being surveilled but not in the way you’re probably thinking. Apps like Facebook and Instagram are not listening to you through your phone’s microphone. However, it is tracking your web usage what to you search, what accounts do you follow, what do you like, what do you buy. Based off that we get our ads. Even if you’ve never searched for something it is possible your friend has searched for that thing so Facebook decides to see if you might also like it.  Next, we will be discussing what we can do about this. Before we get into that we have a word from another one of our sponsors cats.  

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Now it’s time to ask how we can change the situation around technology and surveillance well the first thing you can do is put a piece of tape over your camera on your laptop if you don’t plan on using it. There are also laptop camera covers you can buy that are removable so if you need to hop on a zoom call and have your camera on you can but if someone hacks you, they aren’t going to see anything. You can also buy similar devices for your phone. Also go into your privacy settings for your smart speakers, phones and other devices and see what they are gathering about you and turn off anything you are not comfortable with. Also, if you have an iPhone, you can turn off Siri if you don’t use it. We also need these companies to be honest about what information they are gathering. Because all our information about what they are doing with our data comes from them we need to hold them to a standard of truth. You can also download apps like crap cleaner that will get rid of cookies or trackers on your device.   

Well that concludes today’s episode of dystopia now. The show that asks are their elements of a dystopia in our society today. I have been your host Ava and today we talked about if citizens of our society today are under constant surveillance. We looked at smart speakers like google home ad amazon echo, Siri ad other virtual assistants, cameras on our devices and targeted ads. I hope you learned something today. Don’t forget there are lots of things you can do to avoid the prying eyes of our society. The most important thing you can do is read the terms and conditions before you make accounts are you giving away things you don’t feel comfortable with. If so don’t sign up don’t just blindly accept cookies. Take a second to think before you click agree. However, no matter what in our society today its pretty much guaranteed that you are going to be surveilled in some form the only way to truly avoid it is to not purchase any device, have no social media accounts. Heck don’t use the Internet at all and just hide in your house. Really the best we can do is be cautious and limit the things we allow these companies to see. See you next time for another episode of dystopia now.   

Works cited:  

Johnson, Andy. “Surveillance Society: 7 Ways You’re Being Watched, and Didn’t Know It.” CTVNews, 22 June 2013, www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/surveillance-society-7-ways-you-re-being-watched-and-didn-t-know-it-1.1337075. 

Lerner, Carley. “Is Alexa Really Always Listening?” Reader’s Digest, 8 Dec. 2021, www.rd.com/article/is-alexa-really-always-listening. 

Selman, Hanna. “Why We See Digital Ads After Talking About Something.” McNutt & Partners, 26 Aug. 2021, www.mcnuttpartners.com/why-we-see-digital-ads-after-talking-about-something/#:%7E:text=Tracking%2C%20not%20listening&text=In%20a%20way%2C%20social%20platforms,actions%2C%20both%20online%20and%20off. 

Music: Endless Motion found on https://www.bensound.com