Invasion of My Private Eye

There are too many people trying to find out about my spending habits.  Every time I make a purchase, it seems some one wants my area code, or zip code, or birth date.  I don’t want these companies finding out about me.  If I get the chance to check the box that says “if you mark this we will not share your information” then you can rest assured I’m checking that box.

Even with all the information that companies can get today, it doesn’t seem to be enough.  Now they don’t just want to know what I’m doing with my money, they want to know what I’m doing with my eyes.  I’m sure that tracking how many people actually look at an ad is beneficial for the advertisers, but it gives me the creeps to know some tiny computer is scanning my retina.

This is only the beginning.  Eventually they will find a way to mark the retina of the people look, or have a code that says exactly who that person is, like in the sci-fi movie with Tom Cruise.  Then they will be able to track whether or not the looker did more than look.

It is enough already.  Make products worth buying, spend the money on the development, and quit worrying so much about the spiffy ads.  And quit trying to read my mind (or at least my eyes).  If my husband hasn’t figured it out, there is no way a computer will ever be able to do it.

 

 

Britain Spies the Most

If you are in Great Britain and you feel like you are being watched, it’s because you are. There is one CCTV camera for every 14 people. In a perfect but eerie “reality imitating art,” there are over 30 cameras with in shouting distance of George Orwell’s home (the author of 1984 - the “big brother” book).

It seems to me that this could be too much of a good thing. With ever success that the government has (catching criminals, getting leads, and other more preventative actions) it seems that more cameras pop up. What started out as a deterrent to crime is quickly becoming the eye of “big brother” aiming to keep the citizens in line and on track with the government’s ways.

I would hate to be they guy who has the job of monitoring all these cameras. Keeping an eye on 4.2 million CCTV cameras has to be mind boggling (not to mention the amount of space the screens take up).

Maintaining order and peace is important. There just has to be a better way of going about it. Is the public use of money best spent spying on the every day lives of ordinary citizens in the hopes that MAYBE something bad might happen?

Somebody’s Watching Me

There’s nothing worse than having the feeling that someone is watching your every move.  I’m not all that paranoid under most circumstances.  Being a work at home mom means that no one would be interested in how I spend my day.  Right?

The movies, the news, and the internet show pictures of ordinary citizens being watched.  It’s unnerving, uncomfortable, and just not right.  One picture I saw was of some poor soul sunbathing topless on her private balcony.  It gave me shivers because I don’t know a woman out there who hasn’t done something along those lines at some point and time.  It never occurred to me that some crazy person might be watching from the sky.    When I moved out of my parents’ home, I also gave up everyone’s right to spy on me.

These are bad times with bad people trying to kill some of the ordinary citizens.  The government is doing what it thinks it must do in order to make life safe.  The trouble comes when these powers are used for evil and not good.  Even worse, when the powers are hijacked by outsiders who have no morals or scruples or anything concern about anyone other than themselves.

There has to be a way to balance the interest of security with the right to privacy.  I just don’t know if it will ever be attained.

 

 

Google Is Taking My Peace

The tax appraiser can by our house to take pictures.  She told me that they would be put in our public records - which any citizen can freely access.  It was a shock to her that I didn’t WANT pictures of my home available to the world.  Her counter was that if someone really wanted to know about my house, they could find it on the internet.

The scary part about my confrontation was that she was right.  As technology continues to get more advanced, my private information becomes less private.  We live in the country - way in the country.  A few years ago, it would have been nearly impossible to find us unless you knew us.  Now, with a few clicks of the mouse, a person can see the layout of our home and even monitor our comings and goings.

Knowing that “Big Brother” could be watching is unnerving enough.  Having the additional awareness that the guy that stalked me for two years after we first got married can see me is much worse.

I want the advancement of technology because of the wonderful things it can do for society.  At the same time, I long for the days when my business was mine alone.  Can a balance ever be found?