Mr Robot Shows Us How Controlled Our Society May Actually Be

The strategy of control today is completely virtual. When we consider the amount of information that we make available, most not even to our knowledge, we find ourselves contemplating whether or not there is a consequence. In 2015, the television show Mr Robot aired on ‘USA Networks’ and depicted our world through the stark eyes of Elliott Alderson, a young cybersecurity engineer. The show portrays the importance of our world online, and brings to light the ways our information and online availability may force us to reconsider our own behavior. The show gives us a glimpse into Elliot’s world as an experienced hacker, and shows us numerous ways in which the information we share online can come back to bite us.  

Deleuze first describes how we self regulate within our environments in his short reading “Postscript on the Societies of Control.” He describes how as we live today we continue to pass from one closed environment to another, having to abide by the laws within each of those societies. As we go through our lives we will forever be going from home, to school, to work, and onward, always trying to shape ourselves to the surveillance we are under. One aspect that has become more and more apparent in our society is our ability to be present online. Social media, online bank accounts, smartphones, apps; they’ve all contributed to our way of life. We could argue that they have aided so much in the way we work from day to day that we would never be able to go on with on without them. These tools present themselves as allowing us more accessibility to communication and resources, and the effect is incredibly freeing. In fact these devices allow us to do so much more and in such a shorter amount of time, and not to mention from almost anywhere. This not only comes as a convenience, but starts to blur the lines between the confined environments Deleuze talked about. Today, there are no solid lines between home, work, and school. It’s now so acceptable to continue work at home, catch up on online class at work, and check emails and social media at school. We have become so much more accessible that it’s seems as though we need to be reachable everywhere. And we almost alway are, even if we don’t know it. The real question is, could there be consequences to how easily accessible we have become online? And more importantly, has the presence of the Internet made us become more self regulating, or just left us feeling more at ease.

There are many ways that Mr Robot demonstrates how vulnerable our online world has made us, and many times during the show has us running to change our privacy settings or passwords. One of the scenes that I found most significant in the show was the scene where he visits his psychiatrist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLo-XXvFn2k . The scene starts by Elliot admitting that he feels the need to hack people in order to feel connected to them, and we find out just how capable Elliot is when it comes to gathering information from online. He knows what type of medication his psychiatrist’s taking, what type of coffee she bought that day, her type of payment, as well as the means of her communication with her sister. He was able to assume many different things about her, but quickly delves into deeply personal information such as how she felt about her mother’s death and that it was possible to watch her through her webcam. Although the assumptions he makes and the reason to why he felt the need to find out so much seems a little unreasonable, the risk is all there. This is one of the many examples shown in the show of Elliot finding highly useful or personal information by means of already available online information. Later on it’s shown that Elliot manages to decrypt password after password, using simple techniques and combinations of personal information like pet's names, favorite bands, siblings and dates of birth, all found on social media. The show brings light to the types of information that may be available if someone wanted to find it.

In a later episode, we witness two unsuspecting characters receiving a CD from an aspiring rapper on a New York City sidewalk, little do they know that the man is out to get their information in order to blackmail them. When the couple try play the CD they not only find out that it doesn't work, but that the virus from the CD manages to get steal personal information and photos, bank account information, social security numbers all connected through a student loans website and college email.

Seeing these things on screen we are forced to ask ourselves the question of how at risk are we really? Although the attacks that happen throughout the show may never happen to us, are they enough to make us want to change our own behavior? According to Alan Smith, “The Internet is an information superhighway, touching almost every aspect of the economy from government agencies, financial institutions, businesses, and professional organizations”. He discusses how just how drastic the changes have been just over short period of a couple years, and the extent to which the internet has become so vital. He states that the rapid development of the internet has led to “increasing number of court cases on Internet‐related issues”. This just goes to demonstrate that this has become an increasing issue, and although it may not be as immediate as it seems in mr robot, it may be enough to make a change in the way we seem self regulate online. Thinking back to the idea of control that was discussed by Deleuze, this information and sense of surveillance may be enough to prompt many into changing their behavior. We have to consider the ways that we can make ourselves safer and less vulnerable online, whether it be by increase our passwords and privacy settings, or by refraining from the internet and social media use altogether. We will have to decide whether to allow the internet to make us feel more free, or if we should take a greater action to limit and regulate ourselves. The decision is up to us.

Work Cited:

          Alan D. Smith, William T. Rupp, (2002) "Issues in cybersecurity; understanding the potential risks associated with hackers/crackers", Information Management & Computer Security, Vol. 10 Iss: 4, pp.178 - 183

          Crain, C. (2013, July 30). Living in a Society of Control. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://www.mantlethought.org/philosophy/living-society-control

           Green, S. (2015, November 30). Dissecting Mr. Robot TV Series: Spotlight On Burning Online Privacy Risks. Retrieved March 07, 2016, from http://cloudtweaks.com/2015/11/mr-robot-online-privacy-risks/