ABSTRACT
This chapter explores audio beacon technology with the aim of elucidating the implications of this technology for the individual in contemporary society. The hidden surveillance of this technology is examined through privacy literature and through the humanistic perspective of George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four. The general conclusion formed is that audio beacon technologies can serve as a surveillance method, enhancing authoritarian and exploitative regimes. To mitigate the negative impacts of audio beacons, this research proposes two types of solutions—(1) individual actions that will have an immediate effect and (2) government legislation that can improve privacy in the longer term. Both of these solutions cannot happen without a raised public awareness, toward which this research hopes to make a contribution.
