Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
People are freaking out about the government "spying" on their internet and phone calls.
In reality, a MASSIVE amount of data is being harvested, and then analyzed for potential threats. The government is not interested in the porn sites you visit or the hooker you're calling in Vegas. In reality, that's what's freaking everyone out. Nobody likes their most private moments being recorded and accessed by others at will.
Can I understand the hysteria over this? Yes.
Do I like the idea of the government harvesting information that perhaps includes phone numbers I've called and internet sites I've visited? No.
But guess what?
You are voluntarily putting out TONS of information about yourself that can be accessed by lots of private companies and the individuals that work for them.
Do you use a credit card? If you do, anyone who works for that credit card company can see exactly what you've purchased and where you were when you purchased it.
Do you use a cell phone? If you do, anyone who works for that cell phone company can see every number you've called, and others at the company can read every text you've ever sent. Do you have a smart phone? They can also see every website you've ever visited from that phone.
Do you use Facebook? Any Facebook employee -- as well as your Facebook "friends" -- can see every status update of yours, every interaction with friends, every picture you've posted, every place you've checked in, and every person you've "friended". Oh, and don't forget that Facebook's security/privacy seems to screw up every so often, opening up that information to everyone.
Unless you go completely off-the-grid, don't use phones, don't use computers, and pay in cash, your life is an open book.
Oh, but you probably think that these companies have no interest in spying on you.
Wrong!
Ever notice Facebook's ads are based upon your actual interests?
Companies are constantly harvesting data in order to target ads to the right people. It's incredibly powerful. If you have information that I am 41 years old and like '80s music, you know to push an ad to me that Huey Lewis and the News is coming to town. You don't bother showing me ads for Justin Bieber.
The real threat of invasion of privacy will come from the private sector, not the public sector. Perhaps companies will over-harvest data, to the point where our privacy is completely compromised. Perhaps "confidential" data, such as that harvested by Google regarding our searches, will fall into the wrong hands, and eventually be released to the public. Imagine if some hacker (or rogue insider) got a hold of the google search database, matched trillions of searches to actual people, and then posted a list of them on some Wikileaks-like site. And then you could go on there, search for your negihbor's name, and find out that he likes watching beastiality porn.
All of this might be coming to a future near you.