As we discussed in the half period of the course, internet has revealed it self as not only a powerful tool in the modern society, also as a potentially treat to our privacy, language, personally, and even life. When I first finished reading Chapter 10 of the book
Always on and watching the TV show CSI: Cyber, now I have a more clear illustration of the topics we have mentioned. Moreover, I am knowing what are some consequences to be always on.
The first consequence that is mentioned by the book is the personal consequence. As people always want to connecting——sleeping by the phone, reading and writing text anywhere, post status while eating, they become sort of "public exhibitionists". They share everything about themselves in anywhere while doing anything. Ironically, phone supposes to make people more efficient in work and communication, now it makes people less efficient because they are always available and sharing. Even more dramatic is that, by doing so, we become more lonely. We are not sharing our information to others, but we are ‘‘fill[ing] the slow gaps by talking on mobile phones while
walking down a street or waiting for a traffic light to change(Always on).’’
While our personal life-styles have change by internet, our cognitive also change. We all believe taking stuffs from shop without paying for is not a right thing to do. Yet, a lot of us listen to music which downloaded on the internet without paying for them. Computer also change the way we think about multitasking. Study found we are not only bad at multitasking, we can not even be distract while we doing computer-relate work. If we would receive a e-mail while doing computer-related work, we would spent more time doing something else on computer after finishing reply the e-mail. Information technology seems created an addicted and attention disorder amount people who rely on it.
Moreover, the addiction of using language technologies has dragged people away from face-to-face communication. We focus more on the interaction in the virtual while we could easily talk to people right in front of us. In the book, Baron referred Thomas Friedman's story on the way home in taxi. Both the driver and him were onto their devices instead of talking to each other. Stanford's Norman Nie also reported ‘‘Internet use at home has a strong negative impact on time spent
with friends and family as well as time spent on social activities.’’ It seems modern Americans have isolated each others by connecting too much. However, the strength of our relationship appeared as strong as before, regardless of more internet use. A Pew Internet & American Life Project study found that the more we are online, the more we spend time with each others offline or on the phone. In addition, communication technologies allow parents and their children become closer. But people argued that they also become an obstacle for children to grow up since they ask more to their parents for advice. Lastly, the internet has brought down our anticipation. Now, we can easily know everything around our social circle right after it had happened. By simply a phone call or sever text message or a updated Facebook status, we could have the first hand information of everything.
If these consequences do not sound serious enough for us, or to say, they are minor details compared to the next idea, lack of security in cyber space is actually result people's death. Sounds scared? I am also shocked after watching the TV series CSI: Cyber "Hack E.R". In the show, a hacker hacked into a hospital's system and treating to kill patient in each four hours if they don't pay the money. First the hacker hack into a patient's drug pump and inject a lethal dose of morphine. CSI team discovered that the hearth rate monitor was also manipulated by hacker to show constant hearth rate, so that no doctor will know her condition. Hacker also controlled the ventilators which were taken back by CSI agent. lastly the hacker still manage to kill another patient by changing the drug whom was prescribed.
As we give up our information, control, and even life to a machine, it is scared to think what people could do with it. As the customer end, we sometimes have not idea of the consequences. It is up to the private company and government to help us protect our privacy and life. The private company should carefully exam their employees and devices that could become potential treats. Government should also help to create a authority that will check all the potential weak points in the important facilities like hospital. They both have responsibly to keep people's privacy information stay private, and to protect our life against crime.
However, the bottom line of cyber security in government is not to steal the information from the people they are trying to protect. Many people argued that they have nothing to hide so we should not worry about government peek in our information. It is so wrong to think so. I think privacy is the last fig leaf of humanity. Giving up our privacy means giving up our humanity. We all have things that we will only do when we alone and we will only tell the people we trust. Although become anonymous in the cyber space is impossible, become we always leave trace while online, we do not want people to know where we are or what we are doing, even we are doing nothing wrong. In addiction, government is run by people. How would you know that your privacy photographs which you don't want anyone to see is now on someone else's computer? Maybe one of FBI agents is watching them now. I think we need to set some lines of how we use computer technology and how we protect us against cyber crime.
