So when was the last time that you really thought that you had privacy? And I don’t mean when you were in your house the last time. And even then, is your own house truly private. When I think about it, I don’t think true privacy has been around since the advent of credit cards. All of a sudden then, there was a way to track the movement of someone by where they made purchases. Nobody could tell where you were at the moment, but all they had to do was look at the records and see where you had been.
True today. Imagine what someone could tell about you if they got a hold on your credit card statements? Are you a low price shopper that buys at Wal-Mart? What’s your favorite gas station? Can they tell that you go on a long trip every other Saturday? Are you a subscriber to Netflix and Hulu, or do you prefer RedBox? What would they find out about me? They would find out that immediately after getting paid I withdraw all my money leaving enough to pay for Netflix, Hulu, and LegalShield. They would find I withdraw it from different ATM’s, and that from time to time I will rent from Redbox. That’s all your going to get from me. What could they get from you?
And cell phone apps? How much of your privacy are you giving up by posting status updates to Facebook, or “checking in” on Foursquare. You just told the whole world where you are. What’s your address? Let me go rob you now. And do you have GPS turned on on your phone. The if you have it in your back pocket then you are giving away your location to the whole world. So if your going to go rob a bank, leave your cell phone at home.
Do you like taking pictures and posting them online? Do you know how to remove the metadata from them? Regular cameras today, as well as cell phones (learned this from Best Buy) tag the pictures with the date, time, location, and even the type of camera was used to take the picture. So unless you want everyone knowing where you live while taking pictures of the kids in the backyard, on what date and you used a Canon EOS 70D, might want to learn how to do that. The selfies that people post online, you can even tell what type of phone they had. And if you don’t believe me, right click a saved photo and go to Properties, then go to details. Now, alot of pics that I’ve checked don’t have the data, but some of them do!
How about going to the library? I have a library card. Now this one is just scary to think about that what you read is being tracked and saved. Fortunately for me all they will find is that I’m a big reader of teen fiction, and I like Stephen King. But what if I wanted, just for the hell of it, to read how to build a bomb and read Mein Kampf (omg I actually spelled that right). There is nothing wrong with knowledge, and if I want to read them just for my own education, then I should be allowed to without fear the government is going to think that I’m up to something. And NO, I have no intention of reading those. Next on the list is “Visitors” by Orson Scott Card. It’s just scary to think that what you read and buy is tracked. Always use cash.
And how about cell phones and teens. Did you know there are applications that parents can put on the phone to track where their kids are? So much for saying your staying over at a friends house and sneaking off to a concert in the city, right? Make sure you leave your cell phone at your friends house. Or even the iPhone, all a parent needs is the Apple ID and password and they can log into iCloud and see where the phone is. I’d feel safer with one of the old flip phones that didn’t do anything. But NO, everyone has to have the latest and greatest no matter how much of their personal life they are giving up.
While your walking around town next time, look to see how many security cameras you see. You are constantly being watched. And if you live in London, OMFG!! How many CCTV cameras are all over that city that I’ve seen pictures of and all. Or even NYC. Chicago, L.A You can’t go anywhere without being watched. And are we really any safer? Do you feel any safer? Or just constantly looking over your shoulder to see who’s watching?
Once you info it out there online, it is out there forever. We all like to look at the pics of sexy guys online, but if you post a naked selfie you’ve given up for sexual privacy forever. You ready to see that naked pic of yourself at 15yo when your 35? Think about it before you do it next.
And just to top the tree here before ending this one, how about Alex from Target? One person took a pic of him bagging groceries at his store, and it went around the internet like wildfire. Yes I reblogged his pic too and posted his interview with Ellen. But he didn’t even voluntarily lose his privacy. It was forced on him. From a few followers on Twitter and Facebook to hundreds of thousands in an instant. He is a cute kid, but think of what society just did to him? Makes you think doesn’t it.
So what do I do to keep my privacy as much as I can? I have a limited presence online. Tumblr, NetFlix, Hulu, are the sites I have accounts for. Oh and my Messenger (Hustleme15 on yahoo). I use cash to buy just about everything. The GPS of my phone is off unless I absolutely need it. Protect what you can of your privacy, because if they get us all to have those chips in our arms, it’s all over.
Love to you all!
~Ryan
PS – If you didn’t know, yea, I am a conspiracy theory buff.
[Originally Posted 11/14/14]
The DisInformation Protocol 