Technology And Privacy In George Orwell's 1984

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George Orwell (1903-1950) is a well-known name in the history of literature. (wiktionary.org) His life span was short but he lived through two world wars’ worth of life and his writings depict the era in which he lived. He could sense and smell the warfare and the hypocrisies it revealed of the governments and their agencies and the true agendas behind wars. His novel “1984” is famous because of its plot that was unique yet technological in nature. The novel seems to be a work of fiction, but how this fiction came true in the years to follow is as terrifying as how much Orwell knew and could predict about technology. Today there are technologies like biometrics, a signature system used by our physical unique features like thumb prints, retina etc.. Orwell was accurate in predicting that technology eliminates privacy because of biometrics, data mining, call…show more content…
There are a variety of devices that offer applications like voice recognition and can capture small movements such as eye-balls’ movement. Examples include Samsung’s new TV and Samsung phones. The voice is transmitted to third parties that can listen to what you do not want to be heard or see what you do not want be seen. Example from the novel, This is almost the same case as depicted in the novel where Winston sits in another room where he believes he cannot be seen via telescreens and writes a journal. The smart phones we use contain sensitive data about us and all are connected to so many network that a normal person may not be aware of. Another example from the novel, the ministry of Truth kept all the records of people to be used against one as and when required. Apple phones claim that they can recover the stolen device with the help of a Unique Device Identifier (UDID), it may be useful a feature for us but on the other hand our location can also be tracked with the help of
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