Secrets are lies. Sharing is caring. Privacy is theft. These three phrases are used by Mae to justify the need for people to share all of their data and information. Although, I do not believe that Mae thought she was going to continue to be an example for these ideas, by becoming transparent. Each of these phrases have a different degree of truth to them, and vary in how much they relate to the real world.
According to Mae, "Secrets are lies." I don't completely agree with that statement, but she makes a good argument. She talks about how when people notice secrets, they make up lies to tell themselves what the secret is. This is what leads her to make her statement, that "Secrets are lie." However, ask yourself this, is a lie you tell yourself really a lie?
I believe the answer is no, because even though you are telling yourself a lie, because you create the lie, you know that it is not true. So truly, you can't lie to yourself if you know that it is a lie. I feel like this is very confusing, and there is probably a philosophical theory about this idea, although I do not know of it. Even though I believe that the phrase, "secrets are lies," is itself a lie, I do agree with Mae's idea that, "sharing is caring."
Mae's second idea, "sharing is caring," had much more truth to it. All of my life I remember hearing this phrase, and it has been said around the world for many years. It is true that when you share what you have with people, be it your time, money, or toys (when you were a little kid), you are able to show someone how much they mean to you. Even though I agree with this statement more than the other, it still has its flaws.
The problem with "sharing is caring" is when you share too much, to where it hurts the other person. An example of this is when Francis videos himself and Mae. When Francis chose to do this, he really did not take in Mae's feelings, and because he shared to much, they were pushed apart. Even though Bailey talked about how, things should be shared for the good of other people, no one would benefit from Francis's video. "Sharing is caring" may have been at least partially true, but the phrase "privacy is theft" is the exact opposite of the truth.
The idea that "privacy is theft" is completely false as far as I am concerned. An example of this in Mae's life, was when she shared the chandelier that Mercer had created. Due to Mae's theft of Mercer's privacy, Mercer feels violated and is made uncomfortable. Examples of this are not only in the circle, but in real life.
It our society today, it is seen that when anyone goes against your privacy, that itself is theft. An example of this is plagiarism, when a person's ideas are stolen, because they were not private. In this case, if the person had not shared their ideas with the public, no one would have had a chance to take them. This idea is the exact opposite of Mae's idea that "privacy is theft."
Mae's ideas may have sounded very progressive to her fellow peers at the Circle, but they would not have been as well received in the real world. Each of these ideas had varying degrees of truth to them, but none of them was completely sincere. Mae's life at the Circle so far may have led her to create these ideals, but now that she has gone transparent, will she continue to believe in them?
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Privacy in a World of Data
The moment that Mae became an employee at the Circle, she was pushed into a world of data. Mae must constantly answer data, in the form of questions from her customers, by using data provided to her by her bosses, who she communicates with through data. Every aspect of Mae's work life revolves around data, but does her data have any privacy?
Another instance of people getting into Mae's data unexpectedly was during the Gus's Dream Friday presentation. When Francis volunteered to be a participant in LuvLuv, Mae thought that was embarrassing enough until they started looking into her data to be his date.
Even though technically none of Mae's data that they went to was private, since she had posted it all, it still felt like a breach of her privacy. This is because all of this miscellaneous information alone did not paint a picture of who Mae is, but together they showed more about Mae than she would have wanted the crowd to know.
It seems that in this instance, data is less private when a person chooses for people to see it at that time, but when past data and information comes up without the person wanting it to, it is felt to be more private. Although, as Francis pointed out, Mae had put all the information out to the world, and the software just collected it all.
This is not the first time that Francis hasn't worried too much about a person's data being private. Earlier, Francis had explained to Mae about how ChildTrack would implant chips into the bones of children to prevent them from being abducted.
In theory this is a great idea to protect the children, but it still takes away the child's privacy and freedom. Children don't always want their exact location to be know constantly even though this is would be a fairly reasonable trade off, for parents, to know that their child is safe.
The true problem that could be seen with the ChildTrack and all the other data, is that it could be misused. If a bad person got a hold of the data and used it wrongly, or if a new power took over the Circle and misused the data, then everyone's privacy would be gone, and their data could be used against them.
It seems that the ideas of data and privacy are intertwined together because the more data a person lets out into the world, the less privacy that they have. It seems that Mae is still not completely on board with all of the lack of privacy at the Circle but she is starting to soften up to the idea of it.
One of the earliest examples of how little privacy there is at the Circle can be seen when Alistair calls out Mae for not going to his Portugal Brunch. Even though Mae has never met, let alone heard of Alistair or his Portugal Brunch, he finds out about her and expects her to be there.
The reason that Alistair even thought to invite Mae is because of the data from her computer, which was uploaded to the cloud, which contained pictures of Mae's trip to Portugal from five years ago. Before their meeting, Mae had thought nothing of upload all her data into the cloud, but now it can be seen that anyone can search and access her data. This means that she truly has no privacy in the cloud.
Another instance of people getting into Mae's data unexpectedly was during the Gus's Dream Friday presentation. When Francis volunteered to be a participant in LuvLuv, Mae thought that was embarrassing enough until they started looking into her data to be his date.
Even though technically none of Mae's data that they went to was private, since she had posted it all, it still felt like a breach of her privacy. This is because all of this miscellaneous information alone did not paint a picture of who Mae is, but together they showed more about Mae than she would have wanted the crowd to know.
It seems that in this instance, data is less private when a person chooses for people to see it at that time, but when past data and information comes up without the person wanting it to, it is felt to be more private. Although, as Francis pointed out, Mae had put all the information out to the world, and the software just collected it all.
This is not the first time that Francis hasn't worried too much about a person's data being private. Earlier, Francis had explained to Mae about how ChildTrack would implant chips into the bones of children to prevent them from being abducted.
In theory this is a great idea to protect the children, but it still takes away the child's privacy and freedom. Children don't always want their exact location to be know constantly even though this is would be a fairly reasonable trade off, for parents, to know that their child is safe.
The true problem that could be seen with the ChildTrack and all the other data, is that it could be misused. If a bad person got a hold of the data and used it wrongly, or if a new power took over the Circle and misused the data, then everyone's privacy would be gone, and their data could be used against them.
It seems that the ideas of data and privacy are intertwined together because the more data a person lets out into the world, the less privacy that they have. It seems that Mae is still not completely on board with all of the lack of privacy at the Circle but she is starting to soften up to the idea of it.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Circle Blog 1: New Place. New Life
New place. New job. New people. New life. This is the reality for Mae at the beginning of The Circle, as well as for myself and all of the other freshman, just joining the Penn State family. Early on into the book, similarities between the Circle and Penn State can be seen.
This can be greatest seen in that the Circle is referred to as a "campus" within the first ten words of the book. Already, you can see just how closely related the Circle will be to a college.
The dynamic of Mae's arrival is much the same as our arrival on campus. Within a short time of arriving, we were whisked off to be given a tour of campus. In the same way, Renata begins giving Mae a tour of the Circle as soon as she arrives. In both instances, these tours lasted most of the day, and no work needed to be done until later on another day.
The Circle is also brimming with opportunities just like Penn State is. Mae attends a party on her very first day of work, truly before she has even started working. This is much like how Penn State has had constant activities and events going on since we got here, and we've been here for three weeks!
There also seems to be a rich social life going on at the campus, just like at Penn State. It seems that everyone at the Circle is friends with other people there, like a college campus, rather than trying to separate their work and personal lives. This can greatly be seen by both groups attending parties with the people they work with.
I have also found that in many cases, like Mae, I end up working with two screens. As soon as Mae started working, she had to contend with two different screens of information. I find that many times when I am doing homework, I must jump between my computer screen, that I am typing on, and my phone screen, to read a book, check my email or numerous other tasks.
The people of the Circle and Penn State also have many similarities. It seems like the people who work at the Circle act and talk like most college kids do, with lots of swearing and lots of jokes. This enforces the idea that the circle is much more like a college campus, than a business. I just can't see the people at Apple taking and making the jokes like the people at the circle, although I could be wrong, since I have never been to their headquarters.
A final similarity between the Circle and Penn State can be seen by Bailey's unveiling. This event, at its beginning was reminiscent of the Convocation, where students in each college had to stand, and then look around awkwardly at everyone else standing while people stared at them, just like Mae had to do. Bailey's speech also tried to pump up all of the circle employees to be in support, much like how the all the college student would be after any of the big school spirit centered events that we went to.
All of these examples are just part of the countless ways that the Circle is just like Penn State. It is amazing to think that within months, Mae, as well as us freshman, will no longer be considered new to our new locations, but will find that it is home.
This can be greatest seen in that the Circle is referred to as a "campus" within the first ten words of the book. Already, you can see just how closely related the Circle will be to a college.
The dynamic of Mae's arrival is much the same as our arrival on campus. Within a short time of arriving, we were whisked off to be given a tour of campus. In the same way, Renata begins giving Mae a tour of the Circle as soon as she arrives. In both instances, these tours lasted most of the day, and no work needed to be done until later on another day.
The Circle is also brimming with opportunities just like Penn State is. Mae attends a party on her very first day of work, truly before she has even started working. This is much like how Penn State has had constant activities and events going on since we got here, and we've been here for three weeks!
There also seems to be a rich social life going on at the campus, just like at Penn State. It seems that everyone at the Circle is friends with other people there, like a college campus, rather than trying to separate their work and personal lives. This can greatly be seen by both groups attending parties with the people they work with.
I have also found that in many cases, like Mae, I end up working with two screens. As soon as Mae started working, she had to contend with two different screens of information. I find that many times when I am doing homework, I must jump between my computer screen, that I am typing on, and my phone screen, to read a book, check my email or numerous other tasks.
The people of the Circle and Penn State also have many similarities. It seems like the people who work at the Circle act and talk like most college kids do, with lots of swearing and lots of jokes. This enforces the idea that the circle is much more like a college campus, than a business. I just can't see the people at Apple taking and making the jokes like the people at the circle, although I could be wrong, since I have never been to their headquarters.
A final similarity between the Circle and Penn State can be seen by Bailey's unveiling. This event, at its beginning was reminiscent of the Convocation, where students in each college had to stand, and then look around awkwardly at everyone else standing while people stared at them, just like Mae had to do. Bailey's speech also tried to pump up all of the circle employees to be in support, much like how the all the college student would be after any of the big school spirit centered events that we went to.
All of these examples are just part of the countless ways that the Circle is just like Penn State. It is amazing to think that within months, Mae, as well as us freshman, will no longer be considered new to our new locations, but will find that it is home.
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