Upgrade features a number of technologies and services that pertain to the concept of information privacy and the government's access to and use of this information. Advanced police drones are used to survey civilian areas, and the police department makes use of wiretapping to gather information. Within people's houses, smart homes unlock and operate using voice recognition, a feature that can be overridden by emergency and government personnel. With regards to Stem, Vessel can keep track of Grey's location via Stem, which raises questions about user privacy and who should be allowed access to this data.
Chapter 5
Information plays a crucial role in Upgrade, with many scenes playing out based on what the individual characters know about each other. Despite living in a fictional society with advanced technology, these characters all manage to keep information about themselves hidden. STEM grants Grey the power to know nearly anything he wants about anyone he wants, with most of this information being acquired through illegal means. Should the average person have access to a computer capable of effortlessly committing massive breaches of privacy? Another issue revolving around STEM is the information it continuously sent to Eron. STEM was constantly broadcasting its' location to Eron, and Eron could use this information at any time. For Grey STEM was the only option to cure his paralysis, and this means his options were remain paralyzed or forfeit some of his privacy to regain mobility. In the real world it is nearly impossible to get through life without agreeing to terms that require a user to give up their data on a site or software, and this is in essence the same as the choice Grey faced. By presenting two options where one is significantly worse than the other the illusion of a choice is created. Grey, like many people, simply accepts the drawbacks of the better choice and forfeits his privacy in exchange for something he already should have had.
After STEM is implanted, Grey is never truly alone. Anything and everything he says or does is observed by stem and he can never truly open up without STEM seeing who he is. For many people, privacy is as much about hiding information as having a safe space to be themselves, but technology like STEM has the potential to deny people that right [1]. In the modern world apps and website gather data from users and many people have less privacy than they release, but because they still believe they have privacy they still feel safe to open up. STEM offers no illusions, ignores all barriers, and shows the potential future if people do not fight for their right to privacy.
Daniel Stusalitus
Chapter 6
Throughout the film, we see various examples of law enforcement collecting and processing information about the residents of the futuristic city portrayed in the movie. Towards the beginning of the film, when Grey and Asha's car crash, police drones quickly arrive on the scene. As the thugs approach the car and attack Grey and Asha, we are shown video footage from the drone's perspective, which reveals that the drone's camera is being used to identify people at the scene using facial recognition. Detective Cortez later explains that the police department uses footage archives to identify the faces of people detected in the video. Later in the film, we also see Detective Cortez access a wide network of drones continuously surveying the city and surrounding area.
The presence of drones that constantly monitor the lives of everyday people raises multiple ethical concerns, as the drones are not only being used to find criminals but also to track people without cause. Many states have passed bills that require police to obtain a warrant before using drones for surveillance purposes [1]. However, there are currently no national regulations on drone usage by police in the United States [1]. Further, the recording and processing of video footage for use in facial recognition portrays large-scale data collection and processing by the government to keep track of private citizens [2]. Facial recognition technology is currently in use by the US government agencies to identify and track individuals of interest, and the FBI maintains a database with facial recognition data for about half of American adults that can be utilized by state police [3]. This constant video monitoring encroaches upon the privacy of those under surveillance, and could potentially put innocent citizens at risk of being identified in criminal databases simply due to their presence on the drone footage. In addition, this facial recognition could be susceptible to false positives, resulting in the incrimination of innocent people [2]. While the widespread use of surveillance drones by the police in the film may seem exaggerated, drones are already being used by law enforcement personnel for similar purposes.
Upgrade also touches on the subject of the invasion of personal privacy by law enforcement. The police department uses a wiretap secretly placed in Grey's jacket to listen in on his conversations with STEM. There have been various controversies and subsequent legislation surrounding the use of secret wiretaps to monitor private citizens, an action which is currently illegal in the United States [3]. In addition, Detective Cortez is able to freely enter Grey's house using a special override that enables her to bypass the house's voice recognition locks. This kind of override could effectively allow any government agency to freely access the homes of private citizens without needing a warrant. This is a significant breach of privacy, especially without the need to justify the action beyond being affiliated with a government agency. A system like this could result in the privacy and property of residents being invaded unfairly and without legal checks in place to prevent the abuse of this power.
While not directly addressing this issue in the film, Upgrade also alludes to the question of whether or not the government should have access to the information that is broadcast and stored by implanted devices. Eron was able to track Grey's movements through STEM; should the government also have the ability to use this information? The ability to track Grey's location would have greatly aided Detective Cortez's investigation, but it also would have compromised Grey's privacy. In the US, current regulations state that data collected from implanted devices is only accessible by the customers of device manufacturer, which in this case refers to the hospitals and doctors that obtain the devices [4]. This means that patients who use implanted devices do not have direct access or ownership of the data output by the implanted device. Further, this brings up the question of whether or not patients should have ownership of the data generated by their body [4]. In the context of the film, Grey does not appear to have ownership or control of the location and vitals data that Eron collects from STEM, which invades Grey's privacy and reduces his ability to monitor the systems within his body.
[1] McNeal, Gregory, "Drones and aerial surveillance: Considerations for legislatures," (The Brooking Institution, Nov. 2014), https://www.brookings.edu/research/drones-and-aerial-surveillance-considerations-for-legislatures/ (5 May 2020).
[2] Bear, Greg, "Future Tense: Little brother Is watching," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 53, No. 9, (ACM, Sep. 2010), pp. 111-112.
[3] Stevens, Gina and Doyle, Charles, "Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping," (Congressional Research Service, 2003).
[4] Hill, David J, "Implant Devices Collect Patient Data, But Patients Denied Access," (Singularity Education Group, Dec. 2012), https://singularityhub.com/2012/12/05/implant-devices-collect-patient-data-but-patients-denied-access/ (6 May 2020).
Kalani Picho