Terms & conditions may apply critique

“ Terms and Conditions May Apply” Analysis Terms and Conditions May Apply, is a documentary directed by CullenHoback in a bid to expose what the American government and some countries of Europe have been doing in the bid promote security through an increased surveillance internet and mobile phone users. The director introduces the context of spying by these governments as it emerged after the September 9, 2011 terrorist attack that hit the United States. The documentary reveals how the intelligence units have compelled companies such as Facebook, Google and yahoo to allow them to spy on all the data from users all over the world. Notably, many citizens, especially from America have expressed concerns about the increasing spying, which have led to an increased loss of privacy. The director uses recent examples to illustrate that the terms and conditions that internet users accept when signing into sites such as Facebook, Amazon and Google may be an avenue for the government to spy on citizens. After watching the documentary a few days ago, the issues exposed by the director proved very timely because of the increased spying by the governments.
The desires of many governments such as the American government to increase security in a bid to avoid terrorist attacks, governments were compelled to take stringent measures. One of the measures adopted by the Central Intellectual Agency (CIA) as revealed in this documentary is the introduction of surveillance systems that ensure a close monitoring of data from internet users and mobile phone users. According to this movie, Facebook, Google and Amazon agreed to let the CIA have access to data from their users. Therefore, the movie makes it evident that many citizens feel that they have lost their privacy to the increase spying by the intelligence unit. Using the example of Snowden, who had previously worked with the National Security Agency (NSA) in America, made a serious revelation of the extent to which spying done by the intelligence unit, the director develops his arguments. The director’s purpose of creating this documentary was to enlighten the citizens that they should exercise their power and not agree to terms and conditions that promote spying. Throughout the film, the director makes it evident that people have a choice and they should voice their concerns regarding the spying issue (Abrams n. p).
One of the outstanding aspects of the documentary is the character named Mark Zuckerberg. The fact that the director was able to reach the founder of Facebook and make him one of the starring characters in the films only serves to place emphasis on the seriousness of the spying issue. The director intended to get the views of Zuckerberg on the issue of spying considering Facebook was one of the companies that had allowed intelligence unit to spy on data from its users. The appearance of Zuckerberg was relevant because half of the documentary had shown screen captures of Facebook messages that had been exposed despite the privacy with which users sent such messages.
In my opinion, the claims presented by the director are very critical considering the ongoing spying of internet and mobile phone users. Although the measure was taken to improve security, it has only served to threaten the privacy of individuals and has often led to false accusations after the misinterpretation of data available on the sites being spied. I find the example presented by the director of a British tourist who twitted that she intended to destroy America during her trip an excellent example of how intelligent unit misread the data that they access through spying. The tourist who posted such a tweet was eventually arrested, although her tweet may not have been planned terrorist attack. Without doubt, spying on the internet and mobile phone users has only served to strain the relationship between citizens and their governments.
The documentary is a timely reflection of the issues emerging from the spying activities of the CIA in conjunction with certain European countries. The director brings into focus the origin of the issue and uses examples to support his arguments that, people should have a choice in this issue. The concern of the director is the increased loss of privacy brought about by the government’s intervention, whereas the role of the government should be protecting the privacy of its people. An outstanding quote in this film is that by Cullen Hobeck himself, who asked, “ What if privacy policies weren’t about protecting privacy but taking it away?”
Work Cited
Abrams, Simon. Terms and Conditions May Apply. Web. 31st May, 2014