Rachel Shereikis

9/25/16
Period 4
Citizen Surveillance in a Technologically Developing World
In recent years, America has experienced a spark in controversy over surveillance due to
Edward Snowden exposing the unconstitutional surveillance of Americans conducted by the
National Security Agency (NSA). The NSA was shown to have listened in on peoples phone
calls, collected data on people from social networking sites, and looked through peoples emails.
There is endless speculation over whether it was Snowdens place to reveal the information
collected by the NSA, and speculation over whether the surveillance itself was just. But
regardless of a persons viewpoint on the subject, it is undeniable that the amount of surveillance
in the United States has seen an increase, especially with the development of technology. This
increase reveals similarities between our world and the world of protagonist Winston Smith in
the book 1984 by George Orwell. In the book, the government uses almost total surveillance to
maintain total control over its people. Although the surveillance in America today isnt as severe
as that, there are some commonalities between our world and Winstons world. In Orwells novel
1984, the government uses total citizen surveillance to monitor and take privacy away from its
citizens, similar to the effects of the surveillance that has existed in society over the past couple
decades.
Both Winstons world and ours use technology to keep citizens under constant
surveillance. In 1984, the totalitarian Party uses a technology called telescreens to keep its
citizens under constant video and audio surveillance. The effect of the telescreens is that any
sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it,
moreover, so long as he remained within the eld of vision which the metal plaque commanded,
he could be seen as well as heard (Orwell 3). And, although no citizen could ever be certain that
they were being monitored at any given time, it was even conceivable that they watched

Rachel Shereikis
9/25/16
Period 4
everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to
(3). In todays society, the same type of surveillance can be seen in advancing technology, social
networking websites and social media. In the case of the Snowden leak, according to The
Guardian, cell phones, laptops, Facebook, Skype, chat-rooms: all allow the NSA to build what
it calls a pattern of life, a detailed profile of a target and anyone associated with them (Dance
and MacAskill). The NSAs ability to track the actions of any internet user is similar to the
Partys ability to track the movements of any given citizen. Both the telescreens and technologies
such as social networking lead to citizen surveillance and oppression by allowing powerful
people to build profiles on others and track their every physical and virtual move.
The use of hidden microphones in 1984 is also a way that the government maintains total
and constant surveillance over their citizens, and has played an increasing role in surveillance
today. In the book, even where there were no telescreens, there was always the danger of
concealed microphones by which your voice might be picked up and recognized (Orwell
117). This adds to the citizens constant feeling of being monitored, making them more
compliant to the rules, since they know if they break them, getting caught is almost inevitable.
Hidden microphones have been used in our society as well. Recently, at a bus station in San
Francisco, the FBI was revealed to have been using hidden microphones to monitor
conversation. According to CBS News, the mics were hidden all around the bus stop. Security
analyst and former FBI agent Jeff Harp added, They put microphones under rocks, they put
microphones in trees, they plant microphones in equipment. I mean, theres microphones that are
planted in places that people dont think about, because thats the intent! (Ward). The
microphones are used in our world and Winstons world for the same purpose: to keep citizens
under constant surveillance and gather information. Orwells prediction about the use of hidden

Rachel Shereikis
9/25/16
Period 4
microphones came true, and is as relevant today as it is in 1984 in terms of citizen surveillance
and forcing people to abide by the rules.
The thought police is another form of surveillance used by the government in 1984 to
keep its citizens in check, which is similar to the McCarthyism that took place in the 1950s. The
thought police are members of the most elite part of the Party or child spies that work for the
government to keep an eye on and report citizens they judge to be suspicious, eventually leading
to their vaporization, or disappearance. There is a fear within rebellious Winston of the Thought
Police, as it is hard to tell who they are and a few agents of the thought police moved always
among them, spreading false rumours and marking down and eliminating the few individuals
who were judged capable of becoming dangerous (Orwell 71). The idea of undercover spies
can be connected back to our world because the Red Scare and McCarthyism of the 1950s share
parallels to the thought police. The Red Scare was the fear of the invasion of communism into
the United States, and McCarthyism is the practice of making allegations of betrayal without
solid evidence, so, for many Americans, the most enduring symbol of this Red Scare was
Republican Senator Joseph P. McCarthy of Wisconsin [who] spent almost five years trying in
vain to expose communists and other left-wing loyalty risks in the U.S. government
(History.com). This is the non-fictional equivalent of the thought police because McCarthy made
claims with little to no evidence to support them, yet because of the hyper-suspicious
atmosphere of the Cold War, insinuations of disloyalty were enough to convince many
Americans that their government was packed with traitors and spies (History.com Staff). Both
concepts are ones that perpetuate surveillance because they include making observations of other
people and making impulsive accusations about betrayal of a government.

Rachel Shereikis
9/25/16
Period 4
The dystopia of the novel 1984 by Orwell and modern America have connections in
regard to the surveillance practices used by powerful groups or organizations, but differ in terms
of the role that surveillance plays in each society. In 1984, surveillance is used to suppress
citizens, while today its used mostly to protect against terrorism or used even for some
commercial gain. But, at the rate these things are progressing, technology such as social
networks and small, easily hidden cameras as well as ways of social surveillance all bring society
today one step closer to Orwells predictions of the future.

Rachel Shereikis
9/25/16
Period 4
Works Cited
History.com Staff. "Joseph R. McCarthy." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web.
25 Sept. 2016
MacAskill, Ewen, and Gabriel Dance. "NSA Files Decoded: Edward Snowden's Surveillance
Revelations Explained." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 Nov. 2013. Web.
17 Sept. 2016.
Orwell, George. 1984. New York City: New American Library, 1977. Print.
Ward, Jackie. "Hidden Microphones Exposed As Part of Government Surveillance Program In
The Bay Area." CBS San Francisco. CBS News, 13 May 2016. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.