POL106 midterm flashcards week 1 lecture

Biological Surviellence

tech platforms monitering real time human physical cues such as facial expressions and biological interactions.

What is biological surveillance used for

This is used to track human emotions and keep users constantly on their phones (specifically social media and tiktok) If no one is engaged companies cannot make money

“we are livestock”

a comparison of everyday users online to cows on a factory farm. Users are being treated as a resource to be managed and harvested for their attention and data. biological tracking keeps people hooked and controlled in the platform

what does surveillance refer to in the lecture 1

everything on our devices is constantly being watched, companies are gathering data on things on our devices (usage, location, personal account)

The cloud

Is really just someone elses computer. It means that our personal data photos, messages, search history etc is physically stored elsewhere

who controls the cloud

data is stored on servers owned by mega coorps such as TikTok Meta Google etc

state surveillence and coercion

governments can compel tech companies to hand over user data under local laws.

Tech leaders giving gifts to trump is an example of

political lobbying

What is political science

field of inquiry concerned with understanding politics and political behavior. Really about the study of power

What is power

power is about getting someone to do something even if its against their will. and how it is exercised in society

information is a source of

power

Political theory

study of how humans organize power, justice and goverance and rights. What is a just society?

What is democracy

system of democracy where political power rests with the people “rule by the people”

What does democracy entail

Rights and freedoms

• Protection of human rights

• Free and independent media

• Minority rights safeguarded

Citizen participation and equality

Elections and leadership

Checks and balances

Governance and the rule of law

Restrains power

For most of human history…democracy is

rare

Demo+kratos

demos: people kratos: power or rule in Greek

What is democracy like now days, the trend?

last 20 years = more countries have moved away from democracy

• around the time of the dawn of social media

In the social media age… democracy has been

lower

What is social media

broadly defined to include the material infrastuture thsat constitutes our communicaions enviornment

democracy needs less people why?

for effective communication, more people we have makes it harder to maintain a democratic system

The orgins of the internet

Someone thought about it from the military as a way to quickly communicate during an attack

The vicious cycle describes

suurveillence capitalism (data harvesting) → Private-state psyops (disinformation and influence) → Techno-Fascism (authoritarian tech control

how does pegasus infrastructure work

attack vectors:

• zero days: exploits unknown software flaws in common apps for example messaging tools

• Delivery installed via malicious links or invisible zero click exploits requiring no user interaction

capabilities

• once installed it achieves total device compromise, allowing attackers to secretly harvest and transmit data

Key example article for pegausus spyware

Saudi Activist Who Fought for Womens rights to drive is sentenced to prison