The Illusion of Privacy

 The use of technology has become like a virus in society today; whereas before, owning a laptop or a smartphone was seen more as a privilege than a necessity, now, if you do not own either, you most likely will have a hard time keeping up with the world.  Watching these videos made me struggle with myself and how far I want the government in my life. On the one hand, I know the government is most likely tracking me and everything I do. While that severely affects my civil liberties, I also understand that the government uses this same technology to arrest terrorists and criminals. That scenario is precisely the problem I am having trouble facing while I do like the safety that the government is providing me, that safety is also infringing on my rights as well. In high school, I had to read a book called 1984 by George Orwell, which takes you to a future where the government can see any aspect of your life. They control the media, they have cameras in your house. Evidently, their biggest weapon is the kids you have because the kids you make are brainwashed in school and become spies for the government. While it has not gotten to that point in the US yet, it seems to be slowly but surely heading there; the government has no power equal to it to tell it, no, and countries like China seem to be already taking the step in this direction with the adoption of their social credit score and the tens and millions of camera already deployed there.

In one of the Ted Talks, Christopher Soghoian brings up how data companies use wiretapping to listen in on your phone calls and read your conversations. This invasion of privacy being done to American Citizens reminds me of another one that happened around three hundred years ago when King George forced the people of the colonies to house British soldiers. When these British soldiers were in your house, they would take up your food, a bed, and maybe your drinks. Most importantly, these soldiers symbolized a governmental overreach; they were forced into your home without your consent. They could also overhear conversations if needed, and while these scenarios are three hundred years apart, the end result is the same. The founding fathers banned the method of quartering with the third amendment because they saw the house as a private domain that should not be forcibly barged into. Nowadays, the government is taking up quarters in your house; this time, it is less evident. There is no soldier in your house to spy on you; instead, it is the laptop or phone you use to read this.

The one thing we as a people can do to fight off this wave is to be more conscious of how much we let the internet know about us; by the time you see this, it might be a bit too late, but there are still things we can do to stop the bleeding. One thing that can help is not to use password savers; these can be hacked, and while only 45 million Americans use these sorts of apps, that is still a lot of information floating around in the cloud waiting to be stolen. Also, downloading a virus scanner can significantly help you; while some are expensive, they are very effective. These are two small suggestions that I can find that I think would help people take back some of our privacy. While it is sad that we all will never be private in the growing digital age, at least we can try to take back some of our privacy.