In an era of amazing technological advances we are a connected people. There are many ways to stay in contact with family and friends. From texts, calls, instant messaging, Skype, Facetime, Facebook chat, and email, just to name a few. As society is constantly plugged in, the vulnerability of technological violations of privacy are eminent.
The real question is what is your privacy worth to you? Is completely limiting your activities to snail mail and rotary phones going to maintain your private life? I don't think that "unplugging" is going to help preserve privacy. Perhaps moving off the grid and living in a tent while picking berries and bow hunting deer may give you head start to anonymity. But, even if you go to all that trouble, the google car is bound to spot you and your cover will be blown.
The truth about our Nation of Secrets is that we have given them the green light to track our lives, and it is all under the premise that in doing so we will be safer. Our state of fear following 9/11 resulted in giving up privacy rights that would have been adamantly protected before. A quote by Dwight B Eisenhower highlights how one can have complete safety. He said, "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom." Now we have allowed our government unlimited access in the name of security. They can track our web searching, our phone calls and texts, and any other data that is emitted via technology. But hey, we are now "secure."
It is also alarming that hackers, which previously targeted businesses and government entities are turning their aim toward everyday people. With such personal information at their fingertips and no compassion for the lives impacted there is no limit to the people that will be impacted. A recent tactic is hacking into your personal computer and essentially blocking all your access to your files. For a small fee, they will unlock your data which they so kindly locked from you. Hackers are forming communities of their own. Darkode is an online forum that unites hackers; it gives them a location to collaborate, trade, and sell. They are virtually unstoppable, when the government shut it down, it only took a few weeks and they were back online.
The truth is that our ever connected society is firmly connected. People travel through their lives, posting joys, frustrations, and ideas as they are experienced in real time. To opt out of social media and technology would be opting out of experiencing relationships as they are shared in our current day and age. The reality that we may be subject ourselves to a breach of our privacy does not justify opting out of the experiences available through our evolving technology.
It really is shocking how every step we take can be watched! Reading all this stuff makes me wanna smash my phone against the wall. But you're right - what about the relationships we share via the internet? What about the relatives we can only see on Skype? I don't really want to give this up. I don't wanna give up my online community. But there's a price we pay for the joy technology brings to us.
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