"Person of Interest" and the Current Privacy Debate

Person of Interest poster via IMDb

    Throughout this course, we have talked a lot about privacy, especially in the new age of technology with social media and the internet. It became apparent that taking extra precautions for privacy is not something many people consider doing, whether it be because they don't know this is even something they can do or because they just don't think it's necessary for them specifically. Although I am someone who is willingly active on social media, I feel as though I am very aware of the amount of information that has been collected about me. The main reason I think this is the case is because during the fall of 2019 and the winter of 2020, I watched the CBS show Person of Interest with my father. Because the show first aired between 2011 and 2016, my dad had already seen it and thought I would enjoy it, so we watched it together on Netflix.

    Person of Interest is an action crime drama set in modern day New York City. Harold Finch (Michael Emerson), a billionaire tech genius enlists John Reese (Jim Caviezel), a former soldier for the U.S. Army Special Forces and operative for the CIA, to help prevent people's deaths. Years prior, Finch had created a machine for the U.S. government that would collect and sort data from every camera, phone, computer, website, microphone, etc in order to prevent terrorist attacks. Although the government only uses it for terrorist attacks, the machine also displays information about other premeditated murders; the government just deems these unimportant and ignores them. Unbeknownst to the government, Finch still has access to this machine and is being fed the social security numbers of soon to be victims of attacks. He will then pass the information off to Reese and the two will work together, with Reese in the field and Finch behind the computer, as they try to prevent these deaths. This is the general set up of each episode, which is coupled with an overarching plot or two for each season, most of which revolved around people in rebel group trying to prevent the government from using people's personal devices to spy on them and storing their information. 

    The show had high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes (92%), IMDb (8.4/10), and Rating Graph (9/10). In its first season, Person of Interest  was the fifth most viewed CBS show of the 2011-2012 season, with 13.31 million viewers. The show was ultimately cancelled partially due to a decline in viewers following the third season, but also become although it was a CBS show, it was owned by Warner Brothers, who then received a great deal of the ad revenue the show brought in. Ultimately, it was not profitable enough for CBS to continue the series as long as Warner Bros. owned it. 

    With the show being as successful as it was, I was initially surprised more people were not as concerned about their privacy because I felt as though it would have been a real eye opener to anyone who watched it. As I thought about it more though, I came to the theory that the show, in many ways, foreshadowed what was to come in the way of privacy and technology, so at the time of its initial airing, people did not think of it as a wake up call because it was almost early in the timeline of smart phones and similar technology.

Amazon Echo via Amazon

    For reference, Person of Interest first premiered on September 22nd, 2011.  One month later, the iPhone 4s was released, first introducing the world to Siri, the voice assistant to which people spoke their commands and questions and it would understand the words and relay the answers or complete the action. The first iPhone to use finger print ID was not released until 2013 with the iPhone 5s, and facial recognition software was not added to the iPhones until the iPhone X, which was released at the end of 2017, almost a year and a half after the finale of Person of Interest aired. Another bit of technology that has been the center of many privacy conversations are the smart speakers, such as Google Homes and Amazon Echos, which was one of the first devices of this nature. The Amazon Echo was released in 2015, and it, as well as other smart speakers, can connect to the internet so then users can verbally ask the device a question or give it a command, and then the device will give you a response out loud. Because many devices are activated by the call of their name, people have concluded that the speakers must always be listening, and some take it farther and argue that the government and/or the company that makes the respective speaker is actually recording everything they say, even if it is not directed to the speaker. 

    When the show first began, a lot of the current technological advancements that people have privacy concerns over were either brand new, or non-existent. Those who watched Person of Interest, may not have thought that the events in the series were realistic or likely, partially because of the available technology at the time. Flash forward just about five years after the show ended, and now data security and privacy with our technology and social media is an extremely hot topic that many people are finally starting to be concerned about. 

    I'm curious as to how Person of Interest would hold up today had it began airing in 2020 and 2021. I feel like it would actually be the needed wake up call to those to watch it; however, it would not surprise me if the show had lower ratings if it were made today. I don't know how much people would want to watch a show that features unsettling examples of how their privacy may not be as personal as they once imagined. Many people prefer to live by the motto "ignorance is bliss," and they may choose to ignore the vast number of ways the government or other companies could be recording and storing your information.

    In sum, although it is not a current show, Person of Interest, is about as current as you can get with the subject matter. If you have a Netflix subscription, I recommend trying it out because not only is it a timely topic, but it is also just a well made show with solid plot lines and acting.