Big Brother watching us as we leave our home, log into Twitter and send nudies to our BFFs. Are we safe?
It’s a topic we have all definitely read about in the past, or at the very least, allowed to fly over our heads as we take seat to watch the last ten minutes of the eight-o’clock news before Googlebox. The government spy agencies watching every byte of information leave our devices, to fall under the wrath of their scrutiny, creating the paranoid, inter-device-connected culture we all try to enjoy daily.
What we see now is a huge amount of people worrying about whether they are being watched.
I remember about two years ago whilst playing Red Dead Redemption, I found myself curious about what the acronym TNT meant. So I looked it up. And whilst reading through its wiki page I soon became curious about how explosives work in general. So I googled that too. It was interesting for the first five minutes but I soon got bored of it and closed the tabs. But not without wondering whether my actions had put me on any government watchlist. It was innocent, of course, and even the government spies could have easily seen my internet traffic mentioned a wild western game, so it would have proven my innocence. Still it was possible. In fact, a little bit of me hoped it was true. The essence of what these agencies does is to protect the country and its citizens. If I had seen any instruction on bomb-making in that brief five minute googling session, it could have lead to an act of terrorism (obviously not by myself).
Now that I put actual thought into this, I wonder whether I may still be on this watchlist. None of us understand the variables these agencies take in to account when doing their job so it’s impossible to say. It is entirely within the realm of possibility that from a quick google search, innocent though it may have been, that I am still being carefully monitored by the government’s over-zealous suspicion.
Perhaps it’s paranoid talk. To be honest it does not really bother me all that much. It was just written to put my point across.
It would be reasonable for people to believe these guys have bad intentions. Especially considering the wealth of information that is being collected about, not just us, but possibly many foreign citizens too. Let’s not forget the American NSA and their having Angela Merkel as an asset. It’s no surprise the GCHQ are being compared to the NSA and vice versa. Of course people are going to feel paranoid enough to start movements opposing these regimes.
Can we truly trust them though?
I believe we can, no matter the press this topic gets. There may be some rogues. The directors may have their own agendas. And some of the staff may be more interested in the nudes Rebecca sends to her boyfriend, Will, than is appropriate. But overall, I don’t believe that we are being watched for any malicious reason. I genuinely believe they are taking the appropriate actions in order to safeguard the future and safety of the country.
I think, also, for the staff working there, and why they would be so attracted to the jobs. To be in a position where one can use all of the latest, newest technology – some of which may not even be available to the public yet – as well as working with code that even industry professionals of a few decades would not understand. It’s a big promise for anybody who has a passion for I.T and communications.
If that wasn’t enough, code cracking would exist as commonplace in that environment. Daily brain teasers that are challenging almost every time. Sure, it does sound like it could be a stressful job. But a challenging and rewarding one, when you recognise your accomplishments and feel you’re doing what you think is best for the country. Beside the technology aspect of the job, it’s also a noble pursuit.
But there could be a solution: public oversight.
An independent organisation, accountable to the British people, given access to every piece of information the GCHQ either creates or records. Their every action scrutinised like our phone calls. It may not be ideal for them but, just like us, they would have to learn to adapt. The organisation would act on our behalf with our best interests at heart at all times.
They should also have the power to prevent certain actions being taken by GCHQ. Lastly, they should be made to keep all information they review as much a secret as GCHQ does.
It does sound ambitious as much as it sounds unlikely to ever happen. But consider for the moment how this could help. The public will know that they are being represented in a time when government actions seem to go unaccountable. A feeling of power could be returned to the public; the people who have done nothing wrong to deserve being spied on.
The work GCHQ does is, regardless of how some feel towards it, necessary. It doesn’t have to be as hated as it deserves. With public oversight, things could start looking more positive in the future.
Since writing this article back in September of 2016, the UK government has introduced the Investigatory Powers Act since being given royal assent on November, 29th, 2016, and is clear to all that the government are destined to give out even more powers to even more authorities than those exclusives like GCHQ prior. There will now be a whole list of bodies who can call on personal information and the public are given no information on why some of these may require it. For instance, the National Health Service. Why would the NHS need to be made aware of what is going into my snaps with my girlfriend? Is it really necessary for them to hear my conversation with a potential employer?
The need for privacy is paramount in our digital culture. And while we cannot deny that those who plot to exploit our weaknesses and attack our innocent friends, family, exes and fellow countrymen and women, hide behind the shrouds of encryption, TOR, VPNs and proxies, we absolutely have to take into account that an enormous amount of the people being spied upon are innocent. The UK government have made an aggressive attack on something we once took for granted. So now it is more important than ever that somebody monitors the monitors.
Originally written for my website, V1O. Amended today for Steemit.