The rise of little brother in the digital age

"Many of us are aware that being watched is no longer an Orwellian paranoia, but a contract we’re signed into when using and consenting to digital technology. The transformation of digital technology has been widely recognised for its ability to track, document and observe trends. But what this means for us collectively is that surveillance methods are routinely seized and weaponised by those in power.

The uses of surveillance technology are spreading far and wide, from being introduced in schools without parents’ knowledge to monitor pupils and families to spying on vulnerable people in NHS mental health wards around the clock. Even group chats are being used to punish and prosecute young people. But it’s not only coming from above.

In the digital age we have all become immersed into the society of the spectacle and mutual surveillance is higher than ever. From filming strangers becoming completely normalised to everyone you know having a Ring doorbell – we have all become little brothers, and smartphones are the all seeing eye..."