Big Brother Is Watching You Essay Example

All around us, surveillance is watching us every day. We see it everywhere, in banks, schools, hotels, and even homes. Your parents could be monitoring your history on your phone, your school administrator could be watching your classroom, you could even be giving yourself away without even knowing it when using your phone. Phones are personal tracking chips, they track a person’s day-to day activity. They are just like security cameras, surveying ever move that a person makes. But because they’re smaller, people don’t notice them as cameras as often. Your phones, cameras, and other devices are all monitored by Little Brother. Who is Little Brother? Little Brother is the idea of the ordinary citizen surveying everyday life through the masses of people. While Big Brother is just a huge organization surveying and controlling people through money, and power. So, who’s more dangerous, Little Brother or Big Brother? In modern society, Little Brother is more dangerous than Big Brother.

The Power of Masses

Little brother has the power of the masses, this makes him more dangerous than Big Brother due to the idea that he is everywhere. Dan Gillmor, a writer from Slate says that Little Brother is dangerous due to the fact that cameras are everywhere, and it’s easy for those cameras to record anything. “Little Brother is burgeoning too. More and more people are carrying cameras with them. Typically these come in the form of mobile phones, but wearable cameras are growing in numbers and shrinking in size” (Gillmor). The use of the term “burgeon,” describes how fast Little Brother is spreading. Burgeon means, grow or rapidly spread, and this makes sense because cameras and technology like smartphones, are spreading like wildfire.

They can be found anywhere that has civilization. However some people disagree with the idea that Little Brother is dangerous just due to technology. They think that Big Brother is more dangerous because of the adults he attracts using money. Adults are more interested in the bigger things in life, like money, and making a living. And this is perfect, Big Brother lures people in using jobs that pay very well, and then when people start working in that job, they are surveyed through cameras and their peers. Thus explaining how Big Brother uses money to attract people.Though this is a valid argument, it still doesn’t make up for how many more people Little Brother controls using everyday electronics. An article by Arielle Zionts from Nogales International talks about this and recording abilities now vs back then, when people didn’t have high tech cameras, or phones.

Silvia, the speaker states, “We used to have a lot of videos that were grainy,” Silva said. “Now, I mean with cameras and cell phones having these extraordinary video capabilities... we see it clearly” (Zionts). This means that a whole bunch of people who have smartphones are capable of recording and posting whatever they want with clear crisp quality which isn’t all good. Because if somebody got a hold of these recordings then they would get a whole lot of information out of them. And that makes Little Brother more dangerous than Big Brother. And in theory, Little Brother has the power of the masses, so that makes him more dangerous than Big Brother.

How Surveillance Affects the Issue

Little Brother is very powerful indeed, but that’s because people hack technology and make him more powerful through surveillance. ABC News’ very own trusted journalist wrote an article regarding technology and how hackable it is. The journalist stated her case, "At the end of the day, everything is hackable. What I am surprised about is that people sometimes forget that it's so easy to hack into these devices,” (Schlesinger). Hackers can get a hold of virtually anything, especially now where they can get a hold of smartphones or other tech. This makes Little Brother hard to deal with because you literally can’t escape his sight.

And even if you do, it won’t be long till someone else with a phone locates you. In some aspects hackers are just like Little Brother because not only do they ruin lives, but they do it so subtly that you don’t notice them, and not to mention that there are millions of hackers all over the world. Though hacking is very serious, some people disagree with this statement. They believe that Big Brother is still the dominant threat because of the government spying, and surveying everything at any point in time.

However, this argument is countered by what happened at a tenant home; the landlord started spying on multiple women. Police PA, a police article, made an announcement about this. The local police officer who turned Daley in reported this, “Daley had installed the cameras -- typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom -- in at least 7 apartments he rented to women in Norristown over the last 19 years, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Coley Reynolds said Friday” (Associated Press).

This represents Little Brother because the landlord set up cameras and surveillance devices to spy on the women in his apartment building, thus showing how surveillance can be a danger. The landlord represented Little Brother in this scenario, he surveyed multiple women, and they didn’t even know he was doing it. This is a perfect example of how Little Brother works in our everyday life. Both hacking into and spying on something makes Little Brother dangerous, this is simply due to the fact that he is everywhere, he has the power of the masses and that makes him a threat. He’s in every smartphone, so that gives him the power to track and monitor you more closely than Big Brother, thus making him more powerful.

Conclusion

Little Brother has more power in society, when compared to Big Brother. So who is more dangerous? Little brother or Big Brother? Both are very powerful forces in society. But Little Brother stands out more due to the people he attracts. With phones having cameras and microphones, recording and surveying everything is way easier. And because everyone has access to phones and other technology, it’s insanely easy for hackers to get a hold of your personal information just from your phone. Little Brother is powerful, and this is because he is everywhere. And the people who’re being targeted above all others, are those who use phones.

They have an increased chance of being hacked or surveyed, and that’s threatening. People are in danger everyday because of Little Brother’s surveillance, and it makes sense, nobody wants to be spied on, nor do they want to be hacked. But nonetheless this is happening in the world everyday, and it’s very serious, because people are losing all their records, their private information, their security and privacy. However this can be stopped, if everyone stops being controlled by Little Brother, and that means spending less time on technology. 

Work Cited

Gillmor, Dan. “Why You Should Expect More Disturbing Images Like the New York Post Subway Photo.” Slate Magazine. Slate. 12 December, 2012. 

International. Arielle Zionts Nogales. “Phone Evidence of Crimes Is a Big Help to Police and Victims.” Nogales International. 16 June, 2017.

Press, Associated. “Landlord Spied on 34 Female Tenants.” Police PA. PA. 5 October, 2008.

Schlesinger, Jennifer. “Here's How Your Smartphone Can Be Hacked Without You Knowing.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group. 18 June, 2016.