Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16398
Title: The Culture of Surveillance: A major ethical challenge for our times
Contributor(s): Page, James S  (author)
Publication Date: 2014
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16398
Abstract: There can be little doubt that surveillance is a major ethical challenge for our times, especially with the onset of the internet. Much of the current concern focuses on the potential of governments to peruse the contents of emails from individuals, most often under the guise of protecting national security. Email communication is certainly convenient for individuals, and has now all but replaced traditional postal communication, but the ease by which it is possible to intercept emails raises important questions of privacy and democratic rights. Arguably, the most powerful critique of the surveillance society comes from George Orwell's famous dystopian novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' Secker & Warburg, 1949). Within the Orwellian society, every move, and indeed every thought of the hero, Winston Smith, is monitored by the all-seeing government, namely, Big Brother. The pervasive power of the surveillance society is summed up by the phrase "Big Brother is watching". The thrust of Orwell's critique, however, is against the power of governments, and particularly totalitarian ones. Whilst surveillance is usually thought of in terms of governments, it is equally true that organisations, that is, institutions and corporations, are now able to engage in this practice.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Australian Ethics (2), p. 9-11
Publisher: Australian Association for Professional and Applied Ethics
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 2205-796X
1329-4563
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 169999 Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 449999 Other human society not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 950408 Technological Ethics
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 130305 Technological ethics
HERDC Category Description: C3 Non-Refereed Article in a Professional Journal
Publisher/associated links: http://aapae.org.au/australian-ethics/
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

Page view(s)

1,288
checked on Jun 30, 2024
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.