After a week in which the phone lines of the Associated Press were bugged and Google glasses that can record our every move are being tested, it seems fitting to mark World Information Society Day. This event was established by the U.N. to raise awareness of how new technologies are transforming our society and to acknowledge the challenges they present to human rights.
“Naked Citizens,” a documentary by Austrian Public Broadcasting, goes inside this brave new world industry and asks whether, in the name of security, our most basic freedoms already are being compromised. The film details new inventions like smart cameras that are being programmed to stop crimes before they occur. It also examines the fallout when mistakes occur and innocent people are caught up in the Orwellian dragnet.
Digital activists warn that it is up to each of us to investigate the technology we use and protect our own information.
For more on this topic, check out this Technology playlist compiled by the editors of The I Files, featuring creepy drones, omnipresent surveillence cameras and at least one scientist named Orwell.
To keep up with the latest documentaries, subscribe to The I Files, a project of the Center for Investigative Reporting.