Are you more worried about big brother or little brother?
In the United States we are more concerned about the government encroaching on our rights and privacy than we are other people or corporations. This makes sense, given our history and why this country even exists. However, in this new age of technology and big data, I think it’s time we re-think these priorities. For so long people have been concerned about “big brother” watching their every move, which is more science-fiction than real life. However, now there’s millions of “little brothers” that actually can…and do.
Let’s just think about this realistically for a minute. It’s not even feasible for the government to constantly monitor over 330 million people. It would nearly require the government to employ 165 million people just to keep tabs on the other half. They don’t have the will or resources. And to be honest, most of us are not that interesting.
Even if the government were able to somehow record and store all sorts of things about you, they simply do not scan through the data just looking for you to mess up. They only have the ability – and legal justification – to go looking whenever they have probable cause. They go looking for something specific when there’s a specific reason to.
On the flip side, large corporations do store tons of data about you. They have huge server farms filled with 1s and 0s all about YOU. And they don’t need a reason to manipulate and analyze your data – they do it all. the. time. How protected is your data? Who knows? It’s not regulated. Can they sale your data to someone else? Yup. Can someone else hack into their systems and take your data? Yup.
So really, who makes you more nervous – the blue-collar police officer already overwhelmed with real cases trying to put away bad guys to be concerned about your internet history OR large corporations that essentially take your data without you even knowing it (or at least understanding it) and could lay it out there for any loser with too much time on his hands to steal?
Forget about the boys and girls at the NSA and FBI, it’s Facebook and Google that really scare me.