Data Idea Formation and further Research

After conducting some research, I realised I wanted to specifically highlight the pressures of surveillance and the consequences of blindly accepting terms and conditions every time we interact with the digital world. From websites to shopping, we continue to share personal details, habits, and information without transparency or second thoughts. The implications this has on how we interact with this new world and how we are commodified and sold without our true consent or knowledge are challenging the privacy and intellectual rights we hold so dear. This theme is repeatedly explored within my art, and I am excited to find new ways to represent my ideas.

Every day we are constantly accepting new streams of data collection and surveillance. Ring doorbells, dash cams, smart speakers, devices, and the Internet of Things are just a few ways we invite these technologies into our lives and homes. What will be the unintended consequences of these devices on the future of our society and humanity as a whole? I want to highlight the potential dangers and the potential depravities of letting these technologies be ruled by capitalist governance. When the goal is unlimited profit, humanity must fight to keep their basic human rights to privacy and autonomy. Under the guise of convenience, why do we let these big data companies influence our every thought, action, and purchase? Why do we let them spend huge amounts of money on researching the best ways to addict us to their services? How do we change the projection of our future to a less morally corrupt timeline when there is an ever-growing disparity between big tech and the working classes? How will our history and recollection of previous generations be altered by the way we now store and share information? In a digital era, it becomes much easier for the people with the most power to tip the scales indefinitely.

These concepts, although now fitting into a new narrative, have been repeatedly told throughout modern history. Literature such as Orwell's '1984', Huxley's 'Brave New World', and Bradbury's 'Fahrenheit 451' are typical examples of this type of thinking. Therefore, I want to incorporate some references to these dystopian literatures.

I started collecting examples of Terms and Conditions from the most popular social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, and Youtube. I saved these as PDF documents, which I hope to incorporate into my collage. I started drawing up some quick sketches of different ways I could show these in a dystopian landscape.

This sketch shows the 'Dark Shadow' created by the many terms and conditions we accept into our everyday lives. I would layer up examples of these T&Cs to create a sinister figure looming over the subject. This person would be accepting a contract without thinking or reading it first.

This sketch shows the terms accepting when entering and exiting popular stores in the high street. We now are asked to provide email addresses or download apps to access the best prices or offers for each store. These stores then collect and harvest our data to improve their own profits, using us as a commodity in doing this. Once again the terms would create 'shadows' or trails behind the consumers, who are deeply immersed in their devices.

This image would show the length of an average Terms and Conditions contract. When creating PDFs of these policies, some were over 50 pages long. According to one study, it would take 76 work days to read all of the terms and conditions one person will accept in a year.

With a few ideas around my thinking, I will start to collect reference images to make these a reality.