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Siera Parker
Comm 422
Phoborisut
24 October 2016
Los Angeles Times Opinion Section
Is Apple Becoming Big Brother?
Imagine this. You are leaving the gym late one night and you pull out your car key and
your cell phone from your gym bag. Your iPhone lights up and a notification pops up. The
Notification informs you that “your vehicle is parked 600 feet away.” You’ve never seen a
notification like this, but you remember you updated to iOS 10 that morning. Is it convenient or
invasive on Apple’s part?
For months, people across all social media platforms have been speculating when Apple
would release the next iPhone and iOS 10. Apple did not reveal very much leading up to the
release so social media went into a frenzy trying to guess what new features would be made
available to them. With many guessing the next iPhone might be transparent or the “emoji’s”
would finally be updated.
All the guessing was laid to rest on September 7th, 2016, when Apple revealed the IPhone
7, 7 plus and IOS 10. The iPhone received mixed reviews when Apple announced they would
getting rid of the headphone jack altogether and going completely wireless.
However, the real issue is with one of the new features that has gone under the radar in
the new update. That is the “car parked” feature. The car parked feature allows for iPhone users
to easily locate their vehicles if their vehicle is equipped with Bluetooth. As with most of
Apple’s features it can turned on and off as the user chooses. Initially after updating to iOS 10 it

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is automatically turned on. This new feature has left many users unsure how to react or feel. One
Twitter user, @raeshun123 tweeted, “IOS 10 remembers where you[sic] car is parked kind of
cool but kind of weird also.” I can see how this feature would be helpful. There have been many
times I have left Disneyland and forgot where I parked my car. It left me forced to hit the panic
button to locate it by sound, but is Apple going to far?
It feels like Apple is one step closer to becoming Big Brother from George Orwell’s
1984. In 1975, Michel Foucault proposed the theory of Panopticism in his book, Discipline and
Punish.
According to Foucalt, Jeremy Bentham proposed the idea of a panopticon. A panopticon
is a circular building with a tower in the middle and the outer building is lined with cells. Light
floods from the watch towers so the prisoners in the cells have no idea whether or not they are
being watched from the center tower. In theory, that would make discipline passive rather than
active (Foucalt, Discipline and Punish). Prisoners would remain on their best behavior, because
that fear of being watched would remain in the back of their mind.
Foucalt draws on this by stating, “One also sees the spread of disciplinary procedures, not
in the form of enclosed institutions, but as centers of observation disseminated throughout
society” (Foucalt, page 12). Meaning that this theory is not just limited to prisons or schools.
Your cell phone is not becoming a center of observation through these new functions.
In 2016, Gallup conducted a study that showed Millennials

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References
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. New York: Vintage
Books.
Fleming, J., & Adkins, A. (2016, June 9). Data Security: Not a Big Concern for
Millennials. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/192401/data-security-not-big-concern-millennials.aspx
Fry, R. (2016, April 25). Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest ...
Retrieved October 25, 2016, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-
overtake-baby-boomers/

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are very much aware of security risks, but are not concerned about them (Flemings and
Adkins). Much of Apple’s target market is the millennial generation. They make up 75.4 million
people and range from 18-34[in 2015] (Fry).
Millennials are aware of what Apple is doing, but they are not concerned. The main
reason being is that it benefits them right now. It makes their lives more convenient and that
outweighs the possible negative circumstances later. What Apple is doing is invasive and we
allowing them to keep tabs on us 24 hours a day. In an era, where Edward Snowden risked his
life to let Americans know what the government is doing to them we should be more concerned.
Apple is a large corporation with many resources and we need to be concerned about how they
are using those resources to extract our personal data. Data we don’t even realize we are giving
them access too. How much is too far? Where does is stop?
As technology advances we need to become more aware of what technology we are
allowing into our lives. If we don’t stop and assess what personal information we are allowing
technology to access, it will totally consumer our private lives.
Siera Parker is currently studying Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations
at California State University, Fullerton. Parker wrote a few articles for Chaffey Connect.
Chaffey Connect is a student run paper at Chaffey Community College located in Rancho
Cucamonga, Ca. Follow Parker on Twitter @Sieraaa_.