Give The Internet Your Soul

As Mae entered the Circle it accessed information that she had not seen in years. As she continued to work at the Circle her personal life slowly eroded. Eventually, she was constantly wore a camera that recorded everything that she did. People like to think that this could never happen to them when they go on the internet, but it is. Going onto the internet is like going through a TSA screening. Big companies and the government track browser history to discover what people buy, and information about their friends. Using the internet requires people to forfeit their personal information, give the site access to devices, and send thousands of junk emails. The sad thing is, people think that this invasion of their privacy is normal because it is necessary for them to stay up to date. The issue of privacy is an old issue that been seen as far back as the American Revolution. Now there are movies, books, and magazine articles about privacy. In The Circle, Dave Eggers addressed many topics , and one of the larger ideas is privacy. Even though he could have just taken one side of the privacy debate, he left it open for the reader to come to his/her own conclusion. Both sides are addressed by showing the advantages of having less privacy and the detriments of no privacy.

It seems like with every new website or app more information about peoples personal lives are required. Although there are some bad aspects, there are a few good perks of giving the internet your soul. Allowing sites increased access into people’s personal lives has caused thousands, if not millions of people to connect from all around the world. Mae used the social media set up at The Circle to keep up with friends and attend events. PartiRank, the social media of the circle, was used by Mae to work her way up the Circle, while she met and got to know people. This was seen in The Circle when she flew up the popularity rankings in a short amount of time(“The Circle”, Eggers 125–126). In this modern age people find new friends that they connect with easily. The average number of active users on Facebook alone in one day is 1,038,000,000 (“Surprising Statistics About Facebooks’s Rapid Growth”, Wolfe).

Even though people give up a little privacy to social media sites, they think that it is fine in order to be connected. Another reason that less privacy is accepted is because it allows people to have access to more information with a simple click. Being on the internet opens a path to huge amounts of knowledge that they otherwise could not attain. One of the Circle’s main goals was to acquire as much knowledge as it could and allow people to access it. The Circle researched and investigated many different areas of interest. A core philosophy of the Circle “All That Happens Must Be Known”(“The Circle”, Eggers 195). They reached the point in information gathering where they were able to find a new breed of shark and videoed its movements (“The Circle”, Eggers 195). The drive to acquire vast amounts of information is not just in the books. Google is the real world version of the Circle when it comes to the acquisition of information. One of their main philosophies is there’s always more information to know, and that the need for information is a worldwide issue(“Ten things we know to be true” Google). The advances of both companies would make information easier to access for everyone. This would lead to numerous people being able to learn more. Another beneficial aspect from less privacy is economic growth. Both in the book and in the real world, businesses profit from the lack of privacy. As the Huston Chronicle put it “According to the SBA, “Setting up your business on the Internet can be a lucrative way to attract customers, expand your market and increase sales.” Even local coffee shops and dry cleaning operations can create inexpensive online advertisements to target local audiences (“Benefits for Business Using the Internet” Millyard). Small town businesses could follow popular local media trends and increase their revenue. In The Circle, Mercer, one of Mae’s ex-boyfriends, owned a small business making deer antler chandeliers.

Mae advertised his website on her social media which drew attention to his business. This caused an influx of traffic to his website (“The Circle”, Eggers 166–167). As seen in the book, there are some perks of giving up privacy while on the web.

Although there could be benefits when privacy is given up, there are many detriments to surrendering that information. One major problem with surrendering information on the Internet is there’s always someone waiting to collect that information. Big corporations buy and sell personal information all the time. They are known as data brokers. They work in a multibillion dollar industry that basically has no over site. Names, addresses, credit card purchases, and browser histories are not safe anymore (“Data Brokers Selling Your Personal Information” Kroft). The government is as guilty as big business when it comes to data mining. Government agencies like the NSA monitor millions of Americans computers and phones without warrants.

The government has free reign to eavesdrop and spy on any Americans. The ACLU estimates that hundreds of thousands of average Americans are monitored every day (“NSA Spying on Americans is Illegal”). This type of intrusion was also, seen in the Circle. The computer system that monitored and scanned the social media, searched the pictures of the employees. It used the gathered information to suggest meetings, trips, and groups that they could have joined. When she first started, the system looked deep into her past to find information about her in high school and all of her past friends(“The Circle”, Eggers 52).

Another time, the system scanned her pictures and her interests and determined where she liked to visit. The system determined that she liked Portugal and then sent the information to another person (“The Circle”, Eggers 74–75). Like the real life companies, the Circle gathered peoples information about them without their knowledge or their consent. Another major problem with the present system is that governments and companies promise that people are better protected when they give up their privacy. That simply is not true. The government passed laws like the Patriot Act to make the United States safer from enemies of the state. George Bush stated himself “This new law that I sign today will allow surveillance of all communications used by terrorists, including emails, the Internet, and cell phones” (“Patriot Act Debate: Everything You Need to Know”, Diamond). That sounded all well and good until it was implemented. When put into practice, the power was given to the NSA to spy on people. The NSA used that power to spy on thousands of people, but they did not catch many attacks. Even though the agency had immense , they still missed information that could have prevented attacks (“Patriot Act Debate: Everything You Need to Know”, Diamond). In the past year , there has been a surge of successful terrorist attacks, with only a few reports of terrorist attempts being foiled. The Paris bombings rocked the city of Paris. The bombing and the shooting claimed the lives of 130 people (“Paris Attack Death Toll Rising to 130”). This attack came as a shock to France and the world. There was no prior knowledge that this terrorist attack was going to occur. The San Bernardino attack came as a complete surprise as well.

Two gunman, with known ties to terrorist cells, gunned down 14 people and injured many others (“San Bernardino Shooting Updates”). The government used the name of security and fear to get people to forfeit their freedom of privacy, and it turned out to be a waste. Hundreds of people were killed and the government could do nothing to stop it. The Circle was trying to do a similar thing as the government. They developed a mass camera database that watched people and governments called SeeChange. Its job was to make sure that if crimes or attacks took place the criminals would be seen (“The Circle”, Eggers 51–52). The plan set out by the Circle sounds very similar to the plans of the Patriot Act. While both plans were made with good intentions, they could both be easily abused or not ensure security. Although there are some pros to turning over your privacy, there were just as many cons.

With there being both pros and cons on this issue it leave people to question if there could be a middle ground. For instance, not completely giving up your soul, as with Mae. Yet not living in isolation as a luddite. The Circle warned people of the pros and cons of giving away their privacy. Now it is left to the people to determine the direction the world goes. They could continue to give up their privacy inch by inch or they could demand that the intrusion stop. You have been warned.

Work Cited

Eggers, Dave. The Circle: A Novel. New York: Random House, 2013. Print.

Diamond, Jeremy. “Patriot Act Debate: Everything You Need to Know.” CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.

Kroft, Steve. “The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information.”CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 9 Mar. 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2016

Millyard, Kathy. “Benefits for Businesses Using the Internet.” Small Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

“NSA Spying on Americans Is Illegal.” American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016

“Paris Attack Death Toll Rising to 130.” The World Post. The Huntington Post and Berggruen Institute, 20 Nov. 2015. Web. 27 Apr. 2016.

“San Bernardino Shooting Updates.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2016

“Ten Thing We Know to Be True.” Google. Google, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2016.

Wolfe, Lahle. “Surprising Statistics About Facebook’s Rapid Growth.”About.com Money. N.p., 6 Feb. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2016