ACLU: Surveillance Society?
Related to the my previous post Papers Please: This Is A Free Country?, check out what the ACLU is now up to!
The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the launch of a new "Surveillance Society Clock" to symbolize the reality that we are fast approaching a genuine surveillance society in the United States. The clock is set at six minutes before the "midnight" of a dark end to privacy. Also being released is a new report summarizing the state of privacy today and the video of a new piece about surveillance by spoken-word artists Steve Connell & Sekou (tha misfit).
"We are rapidly moving toward a future where our every move, our every transaction, our every communication is tracked and may be used against us," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. "Too often that big picture is lost amid the stream of daily privacy stories. The Surveillance Clock is part of our efforts to keep people focused on that big picture and dramatize what’s happening to America."
My Groups
-
The Academy of Fine Ideas Updated: 7 hours ago
-
School of Thought (host) Updated: 7 hours ago
-
Libertarians Updated: 3 days ago
Comments
Hi Lyric - Thanks for writing about this... unfortunately I believe the ACLU is correct and this story about our diminishing privacy is hidden behind fluff stories that have taken over our mainstream media!! The media fluff is so bad that even Dan Rather addressed it at the end of his new program on HDnet tonight!
There are is a fiction writer, John Twelvehawks that's written two novels exploring what the future may be if we keep up the current trend. I won't say it was the best fiction ever but I could tell he was using fiction to explore a very real problem of our invasion of privacy. Bill Moyers has also reported on it too I think. It's frustrating sometimes because I when I bring this stuff up in casual conversation or sometimes on my blog even, it's met with eye rolling or accusations of paranoia.