The streets is watching, and being watched. Capping off a year dominated by data and its theft, and on the day that 500 authors have condemned the state’s invasions of privacy, we’re kicking off our short story competition themed around online surveillance. “I, sitting at my desk, had the authority to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant, to a federal judge or even the President, if I had a personal e-mail,” said whistleblower Edward Snowden this summer after leaking evidence of unauthorised wiretapping on a collossal scale, with shocking levels of collusion by the tech giants we use every day. From faceless fashion to masked rebels to anonymous musicians, privacy and its thieves have been at the centre of so many creative discussions this year.  We even devoted a week on the site and a section of the magazine to reclaiming your internet liberty. 

In our new issue, five of today’s raddest new writers, from Tao Lin to Gabby Best, contribute original short stories in an issue devoted to the modern myth.  This morning, writers from DeLillo to Björk have publically contributed their signatures to the Change.org petition against the state surveillance and in praise of the Snowden. Now, we’re asking you the reader and budding writer to send us a short story based on surveillance culture. Come at the world of online spies, news-feed paranoia and star-cached lovers anyway you want in words, from CCTV realism to Anony-ops rom coms. It’s nearly 30 years since Orwell imagined Big Brother watching you: now it’s time to write who is watching us.

Send over a Word doc, no longer than 1,000 words, by the end of January, to modernmyths@dazedgroup.com. Entries will be judged by the books desk, with the best printed in a forthcoming Dazed & Confused, and you can sign the petition here.