In 1949, George Orwell's novel 1984 was published, which became one of the exemplary novels in the dystopian genre. It describes a future in which people are controlled through surveillance and propaganda, and technology exists only as a tool for this control. Since then, many have tried to find a match between what was described and reality, and some things from the book actually came to life.
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Surveillance devices
The voice came from an oblong metal plate embedded in the right wall, similar to a cloudy mirror. […] The telescreen worked for reception and transmission. He caught every word if it was spoken in a not too quiet whisper; Moreover, as long as Winston remained in the field of view of the cloudy plate, he was not only heard, but also seen.
George Orwell
«1984»
In his novel, Orwell describes the so-called telescreens - large televisions located in homes and public places. They convey government messages and through them the citizens are monitored by the thought police. Telescreens can recognize people and their facial expressions.
In our life there are no telescreens in exactly this form, but there are their analogues. For example, modern “smart” TVs recognize speech, that is, “eavesdrop” on their owners, and some even transmit personal data to Netflix and Facebook. their personal data to large companies.
In addition, we have computers and smartphones that can be hacked and our actions monitored. And providers, even without hacking, receive information about where we are, what we are looking for on the Internet, what we are writing and to whom. Facial recognition software is evolving at a rapid pace.
Figure it out
