1984 by George Orwell

What does "Big Brother" mean to you? "Big Brother is watching you." How can Big Brother be real? In what ways does Big Brother have access to you? If the government can access your cell phones, view you through laptop cameras, gaming boxes, and track you through personal gps devices (yes, they can really do all of these and more; spouses often track each other), do you feel like it's acceptable to spy on people? How can the loss of privacy impact personal freedoms? Is it true that people who have nothing to hide don't mind prying eyes? How would you feel to find out you were secretly being watched?

Big Brother could mean a lot of things. It's hard to place a definite answer on it. My first thought is the government. I mean, when you think about a mysterious, secretive force that likes to watch and track you from various technological devices... Like some high tech peeping Tom... the government is number one on that list. However, I'm sure that you could say that Big Brother could incorporate any business (since wherever you use your card is tracked and could be used for marketing materials sent to your home). I think that it could also be applied to anyone that wants to use secret surveillance to control you, your actions and your thoughts.

I do not feel like it is acceptable to spy on people. There are reasons that people might want to keep part of their lives hidden from others. Granted...some people might be wanting to keep their murders secret or their kidnapping, but those are cases where using a phone to track someone could be useful and accepted. However, for the most part, watching people just to watch them is creepy and wrong. The impact on our freedom from this invasion of privacy is extensive and hard to truly pin-point. It would depend upon how it is being used. Is it used to stop a certain type of talk? Freedom of Speech is impacted. Is it used to find out who does and does not have a gun? Right to bear arms. It could be used to deny almost all of our rights and freedoms.

I think that if someone has nothing to hide then it is doubly wrong for someone to watch them for no reason. They would still care. There are times when people want to be alone. What if they had nothing to hide, but Big Brother was watching them while they got ready to go take a shower? Who knows? Maybe Big Brother is into creating porn like the Pornosec?

In my most honest opinion, I would be extremely angry if I were being watched without my knowledge.