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Digital Data Security and Privacy: Films/Videos

CitizenFour

Citizenfour (2014)

With unprecedented access, this behind-the-scenes chronicle follows director Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald's encounters with whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a hotel room in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents that provide evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the NSA.
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Rise of the Hackers

Rise of the Hackers  (2013)

From the sleuths who decoded the worldâ‚‚s most advanced cyber weapon to scientists who believe they can store a password in your unconscious brain, NOVA investigates how a new global geek squad is harnessing cutting-edge science, all to stay one step ahead of the hackers.

Cover Art for Rise of the Hackers

Terms and Conditions May Apply

Terms and Conditions May Apply (2012)

Have you ever read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policies connected to every website you visit, phone call you make, or app you use? Of course you haven't. But those agreements allow corporations to do things with your personal information you could never even imagine. This film explores the intent hidden within these ridiculous agreements, and reveals what corporations and governments are legally taking from you and the outrageous consequences that result from clicking I accept. Filmmaker Cullen Hoback exposes what governments and corporations are legally taking from you every day - turning the future of both privacy and civil liberties uncertain. From whistle blowers and investigative journalists to zombie fan clubs and Egyptian dissidents, this disquieting expose demonstrates how every one of us has incrementally opted-in to a real-time surveillance state, click by click- and what, if anything, can be done about it.

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United States of Secrets

United States of Secrets (2014)

Frontline documentary investigating the secret history of the unprecedented surveillance program that began in the wake of September 11th and continues today. As big technology companies encouraged users to share more and more information about their lives, they created a trove of data that could be useful not simply to advertisers, but also to the government. The revelations of NSA contractor Edward Snowden would push Silicon Valley into the center of a debate over privacy and government surveillance.

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The Zero Theorem

The Zero Theorem (2015)

The story about a computer hacker in a dystopian sci-fi world. Living under constant surveillance by 'Management,' he strives to solve The Zero Theorem, a mathematical formula that may hold the key to the meaning of life.

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(T)error

(T)error (2015)

the first documentary to place filmmakers on the ground during an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation. Through the perspective of "Shariff," a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned informant, viewers get an unfettered glimpse of the government's counterterrorism tactics and the murky justifications behind them. Taut, stark and controversial, (T)ERROR illuminates the fragile relationships between individual and surveillance state in modern America, and asks who is watching the watchers?

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We Live in Public

We live in public (2009)

Reveals the complicated effects the web is having on our society as seen through the eyes of artist, futurist, and visionary Josh Harris. Director Ondi Timoner documented more than a decade of Harris' increasingly tumultuous life and experiments, including one that involved living under 24-hour electronic surveillance, which led to his mental collapse.
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Mr. Robot

                                                                                                Cover Art for "Mr. Robot".

Mr. Robot. Season 1  (2015)

Cyber-security engineer by day and vigilante hacker by night, Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world. USA Network series.

 

Imminent Threat

Cover Art for "Imminent Threat".

Imminent Threat (2014)

For the past 15 years, the phrase ‘War on Terror’ has been used to justify everything from mass surveillance and spying to the use of drones to kill suspected terrorists without evidence or trial. Throughout history, governments have applied security surveillance programmes to people they considered a political threat. But surveillance on the scale of the clandestine Prism programme, which collected the data of foreign nationals, is unprecedented. Another new development is the call for the journalists who collaborated with Edward Snowden to be prosecuted. It seems that in many area, America operates on secret interpretations of laws, explained in confidential memos few people see. What are the boundaries of the ‘war on terror’? How can we reconcile civil liberties with security?

 

Google and the world brain

Google and the World Brain (2013)

Documentary covers the struggle over intellectual property and access to human knowledge, offering insights into broader debates surrounding data-mining and privacy, downloading and copyright, fair use, freedom and surveillance.

 

Cover Art for "Google and the World Brain".

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