Module 8 Writing Assignment (MLO 8.4, 8.5)

 - Exploring how a data company named Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as uncovered by journalist Carole Cadwalladr. This documentary can be found on Netflix.

 - 2014's Academy Award® winning documentary CITIZENFOUR is a real life international thriller that unfolds by the minute. With unprecedented access, this gripping behind-the-scenes chronicle follows award winning director Laura Poitras (My Country, My Country) and journalist Glenn Greenwald's remarkable encounters with whistleblower 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 National Security Agency (NSA). This documentary can be found on Netflix.

The Internet started out as a military research project whose main goal was the easy transfer and sharing of classified information between private and public domains. Over the course of the past fifty years or so, it has turned into the monstrosity that we have today: a global Pandora's Box of both extraordinary beauty and inescapable darkness. We cannot do anything anymore without being "linked in" digitally in some form or fashion. Your TikTok account is being viewed by the Chinese government. Facebook, SnapChat, Instagram, and Google are using tracking software to watch your browsing history to pinpoint advertising to your pages. Political parties are paying top dollar for influencers to hawk their agendas in an effort to gain your vote. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.

And Homeland Security is tasked with trying to make sure all of that is being done lawfully. It isn't easy when the very government you are working for is doing the exact thing you are trying to prevent other governments, foreign, and domestic aggressors from doing to you. The information that is being shared freely by users worldwide is so massive that it becomes impossible to track and regulate when the criminals are getting smarter faster than the laws can be written. So the questions are: Where does it all end? Is there a happy middle ground? Or is this just the reality that we all have to live with now that we are all "connected?"

Essays must be a minimum of 500 words and must include at least four (4) references (one from the textbook, one from each of the assigned videos, and one from an outside source). APA style, Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced. MS Word or Google Docs only. A Reference Page is required and separate from the main body of the paper.