Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it:
The fundamental and existential threat posed by the unparalleled proliferation of digital surveillance capabilities to dem foundational tenets is a clear contradiction between the demands of modern security and the ideals of individual liberty. concretely known whether these technologies are compromising civil freedoms, rather than just an abstract theory. Facia bulk collection of data, and algorithmic tracking of online activity give governments and corporations the ability to exerci detailed surveillance over the lives of citizens.
All-encompassing surveillance has the potential to have a "chilling effect" citizens, aware of being spied upon, might censor themselves, restrict their activism, and refrain from articulating dissen thus suppressing the very dissent and freedom of expression that are core to a healthy democracy. The possibility of usir for political repression, social control, and targeting marginalised communities poses a sinister downward slide toward a state where the assumption of innocence gives way to an assumption of suspicion.
The underlying conflict, then, is how to balance personal privacy against national security. Although there is a genuine n governments to employ sophisticated technologies to respond to terrorism, organised crime, and other grave dangers, th be at the cost of the basic right to privacy. A good balance is a strong and open legal regime that subjects surveillance a rigorous judicial supervision and public accountability. Since technologies like end-to-end encryption are essential for pro private communication, they should be supported and encouraged rather than compromised. In order to establish clear 1 what data can be gathered, under what conditions, and for how long-societies must also participate in a continuous an collaborative public discussion. Whether freedom endures in the age of the internet depends upon our capacity to constr in which security is not a zero-sum affair with liberty but a system of confidence in which technology serves to safeguard continually watch them.
How does the passage describe the use of surveillance technologies by governments and corporations?
- AOption (a)
A beneficial tool for national security only
- BOption (b)
A means of societal control and political repression
- COption (c)
A tool for promoting freedom of expression
- DOption (d)
A neutral force that has no impact on privacy
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Correct answer
A means of societal control and political repression
Why this answer is correct
The correct answer is 'Option 2'.
Key Points
- Analyzing the passage:
- The passage explicitly warns about the dangers of the vast data collected by these entities. It specifically highlights the "possibility of usir for political repression, social control, and targeting marginalised communities."
- It also notes that the ability of governments and corporations to exercise detailed surveillance leads to a "chilling effect" that suppresses democratic participation.
- This clearly aligns with the description of surveillance as a potential tool for widespread societal control and political repression.
Therefore, the correct answer is A means of societal control and political repression.
Additional Information
- Option 1 (A beneficial tool for national security only): Incorrect because while the passage acknowledges a "genuine need" for national security, it heavily emphasizes the severe threat surveillance poses to civil liberties, meaning it is not only beneficial.
- Option 3 (A tool for promoting freedom of expression): Incorrect because the passage explicitly states the exact opposite: that surveillance suppresses "the very dissent and freedom of expression that are core to a healthy democracy."
- Option 4 (A neutral force that has no impact on privacy): Incorrect because the central conflict discussed throughout the entire passage is the profound threat surveillance poses to personal privacy and individual liberty.