The case for a new sincerity

摘要

In early June 2013, The Guardian and The Washington Post published four slides from an internal presentation of the us National Security Agency's top-secret electronic surveillance program, code-named Prism. The program's methodology uses information voluntarily submitted by users of social networks and popular online communication platforms to algorithmically extrapolate patterns of possible dissent. The documents, leaked by whistle-blower Edward Snowden, gave clear evidence of the extent to which our digital lives can be accessed and scrutinised by institutions under the veil of security while remaining unbeknown to the public, and confirmed what many instinctively feared but were unwilling to confront: that a constantly watching Big Brother is increasingly not so far from the truth. A few days earlier, Microsoft (the first company to comply with Prism in 2007) unveiled its next generation entertainment console, the Xbox One. The new console is jam-packed with innovative technology that is presented as the new standard of interaction with your living room, sensing voice and gesture commands as the only way to activate many of its base functions. The phrase "Xbox ON!"