Social Control and Surveillance of the Modern Society in Relation to Panoptic Theories

Finding Personal Information

There are many reasons to want online anonymity be it for the content you're looking at, private emails, purchasing goods or illegally downloading amongst many others.

I decided to look into how easy it is to gain information on other people online.

As an example, I have used a site called whois.domaintools.com, I looked how easily I could acquire information on somebody else. Once on the site, minus the www, you can search for the information linked to a certain domain, Greg's was my example to hand.

I felt the need to not post Greg's full home address although I found it within seconds. From this information posted, I could track down Greg through a variety of online resources such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Maps. Anyone could watch over Greg through these ways and use the information how they saw fit.

"When buying a domain, if it's unallocated – meaning that it's free to be sold by any domain registration company – it's a good idea to pick a registrar that will register it on your behalf. Their address will then appear in the domain's Whois record."

 This seems as though it would be beneficial to anyone looking to have their own website, but with privacy considered, if that was required by the owner.

"You may be tempted to get round this problem by using a false address. However, the one that appears in the Whois record is usually the one you gave when you entered your credit card details to buy the domain. Because of this, it pays to ask if you can use a PO Box number to cover your tracks.
This service currently costs £63 per year (or £51 for six months) from Royal Mail. If you only need the address to register the domain, you can let the PO Box lapse afterwards."

 Another solution would be to register a PO Box as suggested, to bypass any privacy issues.

Your Online Life, Permanent as a Tattoo

Recently I've been watching a lot of Ted Talks, on pretty much anything that seems interesting such as someone who is insanely good with a yo-yo, but this talk really got my attention.

It runs with my theme of internet anonymity, although more focused on how you build up an internet identity, teaching you that everything you do online is logged forming, as Enriquez says an 'electronic tattoo'. He goes on to suggest that we should be very wary of what is posted online as it can't be retracted, it gets added to the pool of data already present, which will be present for years.

He also references immortality in his talk and relates that to the Ancient Greeks, which I found very interesting and hadn't thought about the information in the sense it will be available forever.

Globalisation, Sustainability & the Media

Definitions of globalisation:
Socialist - Transforming local or regional phenomena into global

Capitalist - The elimination of state-enforced restrictions on exchanges across borders

Americanisation of the world – arab spring revolution
 
McDonaldization

Marshall Mcluhan - Technology / human abilites.

Centripetal forces - bringing the world together in uniform global society.
Centrifugal forces - tearing the world apart in tribal wars

3 problems of globalisation:
         - Sovereignty

-       Accountability

-       Identity

-      

Manfreif Steger - 'pessimistic hyperglobalisers'
Cultural imperialism – to force your culture onto others
Time Warner - Own everyone

Companies divide the world into important markets:
1) North America
2) Western Europe, Japan & Australia
3) Developing countries
4) Rest of the world

US media - new form of imperialism.

 
Propaganda Model - 5 basic filters:
Ownership, Funding, Sourcing, Flak, Anti communist ideology

- today this related to anti islamic
the news is fact – or so people assume – thought you can only report what you're allowed, so it is monitored what we see/know
funding for advertisement is greater so they can be more substantial take over than the news
Global Climate Coalition (GCC) - Funded by Exxon, Texaco and Ford
 
Al Gore - "An inconvenient truth"
Brundtland commission (1987)  - Greenwashing - making a harmful product seem green and harmless.

The Silk Road & Bitcoin

The Silk Road has received an abundance of negativity due to it being an online marketplace where nearly anything can be bought. I found an article on the Guardian which talks to the creators of the online currency known as Bitcoin.

"Bitcoins are a currency controlled by no government, no company, and no group, but rather by maths: a series of complex cryptographic calculations rule how many Bitcoins are in existence and how many are traded."

The fact that there is no intervention from the government or another group is an obvious instant appeal to anyone performing illegal activities or someone who is very worried about their privacy.

"At the currency's birth, Bitcoins were almost worthless – five cents each. Today, a single Bitcoin trades at $70 (£46) – and the total value of all the world's Bitcoins has topped $800m (£500m). On the face of it, this makes Bitcoin the fastest-growing currency in the world."

Bitcoin is the faster-growing currency in the world due to it's structure and the way it is operated. Even the developers aren't making much money from it due to the fact, they claim, that there will be a cap on Bitcoins when there are around 2 million in circulation.

Although there is a lot of scrutiny about buying drugs online, let alone drugs in general, the Silk Road serves as a middle ground and has been described as place for 'connoisseurs'.

"Johnson said his view was that Silk Road was a site for connoisseurs: an easy way to track down better quality – not cheap – drugs. The site "isn't easy to use", but doesn't require particular expertise: "If you can set up a direct debit and follow a recipe for risotto then you'll work it out."
Once you're in, it works much like eBay: sellers' reputations are verified through feedback, building trust. Money is typically held in an escrow (a trusted middleman) until delivery, with missing packages qualifying for partial refunds.
In all, he concludes, the quality is more consistent, the sale is safer, and the experience better than trying to find a street dealer. Johnson even claims the site helps combat addiction."

 Public perception of the site is a lot different to that of the authorities. The Silk Road is built on a base of trust where the buyer can purchase what they what they want directly from the original seller, as opposed to a sketchy individual on the street. It keeps a distinct boundary of 'on a need to know basis' where the buyer and seller both remain unknown to one another, which highlights the fact that it's strictly business.

Online Anonymity

From my research so far about online activism, notably anonymous, I decided to look further into privacy issues as a direct response to my essay. The privacy issues I plan to look at are internet privacy, due to the internet being the largest weapon of free speech, many feel this is coming to an end.

"Why stay anonymous online? In today’s society there are people and automated devices that are recording your deepest, most private thoughts and activities. Each day we voluntarily divulge the most intimate details of our lives through social networking accounts, email, banking apps, online games and more. In addition, governments and corporations can censor and block our traffic based on whatever standards are in place that day."

 From a post on Activist Post which had a lot of information about how you're hacked and how to evade certain people/corporations from infringing on your privacy.

"Whether you’re browsing the Web, signing up for a new online game, or simply checking your email, you are constantly leaving tracks and giving away information to anyone with access and the knowledge to analyze the traffic. Once the data is compiled the attacker can build an incredibly accurate profile of not only your online life but your real-world life as well." 

 Any action served on the internet leaves a traceable route which the user took. This route and the data along the way are called 'traffic', anyone with hacking knowledge can access this information with the user knowing little to nothing about it. Is this a problem?

"“Why would hackers want to hack into my life? I am not that important.” You have to understand that these “intruders into our lives” are scanning huge blocks of Internet addresses at a time. They don’t care who you are. Your computer is simply another target IP address as they scan through thousands of computers and devices in their search for more information. Once collected they take all the information and funnel it into databases where they can search through it later for high-valued loot."

 The fact that huge amounts of data are collected and scanned is known nowadays by most of the generation who grew up around the rise of the internet, if they don't then that's a naive outlook.

Similarly to the way that the Government, or any other corporation, tracks people through the use of private investigators, corporations are doing the same online. Hiring hackers to analyse information required is a further breach of our human rights, but what can we do?

Celebrity Culture

Julia Margaret Cameron – celebrity photographer late 19^th centaury early 20^th

Soft focus, enhancement of beauty – acting mythical scenes

Photographed – beautiful, educated, cultured women

Men where photographed differently

Louis aime augustin – inventor of the moving picture

1988 – first moving image

The artist – 2011 film created in the first moving picture style, a silent movie with over played sounds

Josephine baker – dancer – muse for art deco / contemporary painters

Influences – celebrities, glamour, music, fashion

Beyonce costume in reference to Josephine baker

Golden age for Hollywood – 1927-1960

The jazz singer- feature length moving picture with synchronised dialogue

Clarke Gable – ‘king of Hollywood’

Bette David – played unlikable characters

Marilyn Monroe - actress, singer – sex symbol – known for relationship with the Kennedy’s – image preserved by a young death

-       Andy Warhol endless repeat print

Andy Warhol factory – developing pop art using icons of the time

JFK president – pop

Advent of television – 1926 demonstration of televised moving images

‘Golden age’ begins late 40s

jacksons – brand

Own cartoon in which they would play themselves

Michael Jackson – appearance alteration – reaction to childhood abuse from his father – didn’t want to resemble him

Lady gaga - post post modern – reinvention of herself – looks/personalities?

Meat dress- fashion/feminist

You tube – allow regular people to become ‘famous’

Barac obama – pop president – hired Shepard fairey to create election posters – appeal to pop culture

Celebrity deaths – televised ceremonies – mass mourning

Parody photographs – shame celebrities – enhance their status – god like?

Social media – enable the following of celebrity – people can relate to and feel close to