Mercer’s Escape

“Let it be forgotten, as a flower is forgotten, Forgotten as a fire that once was singing gold,
Let it be forgotten for ever and ever, Time is a kind friend, he will make us old.
If anyone asks, say it was forgotten Long and long ago,
As a flower, as a fire, as a hushed footfall In a long forgotten snow.”
Sara Teasdale

It appears most of us have become willing to give up our private information in return for perceived benefits such as ease of use, navigation and access to friends and information. Once extracted, our information is rendered as “behavioral data”, producing a surplus that forms the basis for a wholly new class of behavioral products and of market exchange.

“The Great Hack” starts with a light recap of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, enhanced with shimmering graphics that represent people’s data leaking from their phones and laptops.

In the novel Nineteen Eighty-four, George Orwell describes the dystopian Oceania, where the past is constantly updated in order to correspond with the current stance of the Party.

Winston Smith, a clerk in the Ministry of Truth, rewrites newspapers and other documents in accordance with the ever-changing statements made by Big Brother and the Party. He incinerates the old versions by…