Terms and Conditions May Apply

I'll be brief. We're all being watched. Every second of our life. And I'm not exaggerating or being paranoid. That's just how it is. This documentary is really scary. And for a good reason. Because it is freaking scary.

Facebook and smart phones is the best invention NSA could hope for. Imagine that with just the right technology, anyone can tap into your phone and at any point of time they can see through your phone, they can hear through your phone, and even know what you're thinking at the moment. All their wet voyeuristic dreams come true.

So do yourself a favor, watch the movie, realize the truth, and join the forces to fight against mass surveillance.

Excellent review of the political and social changes in *digital* privacy for the past 13 years since 9/11. The director goes into great detail on how Websites have constantly shifted toward acquiring and disseminating more information as time has gone on since 9/11 and how this information can, and is, being revealed to the government on a regular basis. What is more disturbing is how much we thought that either a password or a privacy change on Facebook to "Friends Only" doesn't actually protect us, totally, from government or corporate dissemination of who we are.

The director also points out the substantial moral problem of when we are allowed to forget our secrets and to let them lie in our past. 5 years? 10 years? 3 months? When are we entitled to have those embarrassing pictures taken at age 14 taken off the Internet search engine results (from, say, Google)? When it's been 10 years? What about adults? Do they deserve to have privacy of past-acts (good conduct or misconduct)? This is a matter not currently under substantial discussion in the Congress and the director points out that Congress is the only legislature in the US that can adequately make laws on these subjects.

Again, worth seeing once so that you learn what exactly those "terms" are that you agreed to.

Is privacy dead? Let us get this under control before it is too late. Frightening and thought provoking. Makes me wonder what Indian govt. is doing in this area if at all it is. An eye-opener sort of documentary which deserves more than one time watch especially while we are in this era where in most of us are making digital transactions. Impact of this? I was entertained, stunned but on the other side this made me realize that I better be careful on what I post, mail and tweet. The film-maker has done extensive research and is clear on where and on what context this film needs to pitch in. He has intelligently made use of found footage, interviews of target victims. And yes, you need guts to get Mark Zuckerberg on the camera and confront him and get him say what you want. This probably is one of the major highlight of this film.

I think that we should be entitled to privacy and are entitled to have our rights without having fear for what we post on the internet. In fact most of the data that we type in on the internet can be constantly be misused, and that our right to freedom is in jeopardy. There should be some new laws to protect citizens of not being reprimanded of what they post on the internet. This is a well-crafted documentary that raises awareness of what is really going on when you click the "I Agree" options of the 'Terms and Conditions' of various websites.

This is an important and frightening film, about how Google, Amzaon, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkdin - and IMDb? - harvest our personal information and onsell it to the highest bidder, or to the government. How we don't read that wodge of text in capitals comprising "Terms and conditions" before we click "Accept" - nobody could, it would take a month per year for everything we sign. But even when that text is brief and written in plain English, it gives those corporations unprecedented power over our personal information - including the right to change the rules without telling us, to increase their power without limit and without asking again, and to keep it forever, even after we have "deleted" it.

The film is entertaining, including how a seven year old boy was interrogated about something he had texted; how an Irishman on holiday in the US never got into the country but spent days in confinement instead, because he had used "destroy America" as a figure of speech in a tweet; how people planning a zombie parade during the Royal Wedding were arrested based on the social media planning; and how a TV crime writer was raided based on his Google searches.

I saw this a few days after "We Steal Secrets: the story of Wikileaks". It is the better film, letting the facts speak for themselves more.

And now I'm getting paranoid about what will happen to me for writing this....