As several Observer stories reveal, individuals are being watched and scrutinised just as the author predicted
Your article on George Orwell’s prescient novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, coincided with several stories showing that his dystopia is upon us (“Big Brother’s long shadow”, New Review). From tales of people being fined for not showing their face (Kenan Malik, Comment) to accounts of remote surveillance via mobile phones (John Naughton, New Review), it seems we are always under observation. Rachel Cooke’s dispiriting experience in New York, being forced to order her meal via a machine (Observer Food Monthly) is a further sign of the dehumanisation taking place in commerce and at work.
Capital is using technology to eliminate labour and government is using it to control behaviour. Absent a major political movement against this threat, our only choice is to resist as individuals: never shop online, always pay cash, give up Google maps. How many of us are ready to trade convenience for freedom?
Antony Crossley
Chobham, Surrey
from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Wrfvq6
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