FBI Meme

The FBI sneaking on the common citizen is a well-known topic that gets circulated around often and turned into memes like this one. Even though it’s still surveillance and an invasion of privacy, it’s turned more into a joke now than it has been before. From the rest of the research, especially with other advancements across technology, privacy and surveillance are still a concern and a priority for the population. However, when put in the context of the FBI, people seem to take it less seriously. Other memes and hypothetical dialogues on social media talk about how the FBI can act as a therapist or as someone who is there who cares — not someone who is spying with bad intentions. Due to the physical interface of this laptop and the placement of the camera, seeing the camera in use makes it more noticeable than a camera being part of the top of the screen. A little research reveals that the green light on most laptops — or really any light — goes on if the camera is on and recording. For instance, FaceTime does this when the app is on — even if it’s not being shared with someone else. The FBI’s capabilities though are most likely strong enough to activate the camera without the green light, so this interface takes away that luxury for spying on users who own this Huawei laptop.

Speaking to the broader context of privacy, this meme demonstrates how common and familiar people are with invasions of privacy by the government. If it’s in a meme format and has been shared far enough on the web, it’s indicative of the fact that people understand our privacy is commonly invaded — it’s something to expect nowadays. It’s nice that people can make light of it, but it works in tandem with the fact that people only take minimal actions to protect their privacy because it can so easily be violated.

Right to Privacy

https://www.thoughtco.com/right-to-privacy-history-721174

This historical timeline explains all of the ways that privacy has been interwoven between the policies and laws that have been enacted throughout the country. It makes it seem like privacy is something that the government and legislative leaders have cared about — despite the fact that privacy is nowhere in The Constitution. The Olmstead v. United States decision showed that privacy was a concern back before the digital revolution and set the scene for how privacy has been dealt with since then. More individual cases have since been made to tackle specific areas — mainly the Privacy Act (1974), the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, COPPA (1998), and the USA Freedom Act (2015), all detailed further in the article — but they’ve set some of the rules in which privacy will be shaped in society and beyond.

Mark Zuckerberg meme

This meme, sourced from Tumblr, speaks to the ongoing conflicts between Facebook, their privacy policies, and how the government has tried to keep them accountable when they haven’t really done so themselves. Broader information behind Facebook’s numerous scandals goes to show that the public is very well aware of how much information was accessed and sold. This meme builds upon that though by also pointing to the governments’ previous ways of tapping into personal information of its’ citizens. The government was at the forefront of invading privacy through surveillance and still do so to this day under the guise of “national security.” This may very well be true but to a point. Every single conversation that is had most likely is not a threat to national security.

This meme expresses more so than anything that the government “appears” to be concerned with privacy, but is scapegoating it on Facebook because of their scandals too. Avoiding responsibility in accounting for privacy is key to the message of this meme and brings to light the fact that privacy is hard to manage and maintain, whether an entity is a private company or the government itself.

Parks and Rec clip

Ron’s (Nick Offerman) concern for his privacy and lack of knowledge of cookies is representative of the older generation that isn’t that familiar with technology and all of the only habits that are tracked. It’s telling too how April (Aubrey Plaza) is not surprised by the technology and has the ability to answer Ron’s concerns — and even show him Google Earth. It demonstrates the (somewhat accurate) generational difference in the care and concern for the invasion of privacy. Ron immediately throws out his computer, as his character is way more concerned about his privacy than someone like April is. This isn’t to say that younger generations don’t care about privacy — they do. But only to an extent. Our information is more easily accessed than it was years ago, but security measures have also been taken, and to more extensive measures than before.

Focusing on the clip though, this speaks to the fact that privacy is approached as a generational concern and something that the older generation feels threatened by. Cookies are meant to be in the jar, not meant to follow your every move on the internet.

Impractical Jokers

Privacy in public is a hugely debated topic; where privacy starts and publicity begins is a spectrum of gray, not black and white. This clip from Impractical Jokers demonstrates how this is a line is blurred often. Having a hard conversation on the phone is even harder and more awkward when done in the middle of a coffee shop rather than the heart of your bedroom. Talking about personal finances or even checking bank statements is harder to do on the subway than in a personal cubical. Personal, private parts of our lives are so easily accessible now that they can access us in public spaces.

This clip about Privacy Jimmy makes light of this public-private spectrum under the guise of security, safety, and keeping your life to yourself.