With the use of online personal data to sell products and services, as well as for security purposes, are our liberties compromised?

Many technology companies are gaining profits from selling individuals’ online personal data through social media platforms and mobile applications, mainly for marketing purposes.

We use social media to post our thoughts, pictures and whereabouts. The difference between these accounts and a conventional diary is that billions of eyes could be following your every move on the internet. The same case goes with mobile applications offering wholesale services while recording your personal details and tracking your whereabouts.

Personal data recorded on social media accounts or mobile applications is traded to marketers to help them sell products and services tailored to your interests.

Most people do not know where their personal data goes after putting it online and are unaware of the ramifications of pressing “send.”

There has been an ongoing debate about the use of social media, with some advocating for its benefits while others highlight its negative effects. Beyond a loss of privacy, these platforms are also used to spread fake news, hoaxes and hate speech, which generates a lot of money for the tech companies while inciting social conflicts at the same time.

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Issues of online personal data transparency, wiretapping and global surveillance for the sake of security have also been controversial.

What if our personal data gets misused? What happens if we post something online that someone in a position of power finds threatening and, because they have access to our information, they decide to make our lives difficult?

These questions on the unforeseen consequences of digital transparency for the sake of marketing and security are brought up in a new techno-thriller film called The Circle directed by James Ponsoldt and based on a science fiction novel of the same name by Dave Eggers.

The main character of the story, Mae Holland (Emma Watson), after landing a job at a prestigious tech and social media company called The Circle is at first thrilled to be able to work for the company, which offers great benefits and a pleasant working environment.

The film has a futuristic outlook: It depicts an era in which technology has become so advanced that it is capable of producing cutting-edge innovations.

The most prominent — and perhaps most disturbing — innovation produced by The Circle is a tiny portable video camera that ghoulishly resembles an eyeball. It can be installed anywhere to monitor every move.

Mae soon learns that real-life surveillance and private data transparency could lead to sinister consequences.

The company argues, however, that the technology maintains safety and helps activists monitor environmentally destructive activities as well as apply pressure to totalitarian regimes, but it is not long before the story evokes images of an Orwellian dystopia — “big brother” is watching you, and he is everywhere.

Soon, characters are threatened and harmed for the sake of “maintaining global security.”

For Holland, who agrees to take part in an experiment set up by her bosses Eamon Bailey (Tom Hanks) and Tom Stenton (Patton Oswalt), this means relationships with her family and friends are turned upside down.

From there, life may never again be the same for her and netizens across the globe.

The Circle delightfully combines aspects of entertainment and philosophy. Spectacular visual effects create a more technologically advanced world than the one we live in today, causing you to marvel at the film. However, at the same time, the film will likely force you to rethink the way you use your social media accounts and mobile applications, knowing that “big brother” could be watching on the other side.

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The Circle

Image Nation Abu Dhabi FZ, Likely Story, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, Playtone and Route One Entertainment

Director: James Ponsoldt

Cast: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, Patton Oswalt, John Boyega, Karen Gillan