Big Brother is Watching You

Big brother is watching you. Unfortunately, big brother in our case is not our national government. Big brother in this internet age has become Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. We are living in George Orwell’s world of 1983, only the situation is 1000 times worse. Except in 2020, we are relinquishing our private identity to private companies, not Big Brother government. The information we are surrendering about ourselves to these private concerns would require search warrants if the federal or state governments desired to inquire into our lives to such an extent. Making matters more alarming, these five companies design their products to work in harmony with each other so that they can effectively capture every bit of data possible. And they share this information between themselves. Because of our connectivity, we are unwittingly giving our information freely without restraint. Everyone is attached to the internet in some form or fashion either through a smart phone, iPad, lap top or desktop computer. Even televisions are becoming more “connected.” These five companies track every move we make and store most of this gleaned information in huge databases. They store our locations, our phone calls, our text messages, our email messages, our internet browsing histories, our instant messages, our pictures and recordings, our vacations, our shopping trends, our business travel and even the documents we create. On top of that, they create Apps which access this information that collect even more detailed information. (Did you know that Microsoft has the “One Drive” which Windows forces the documents that you create to be stored in the Cloud?) They currently claim to use this information for business purposes such as advertising, but concerns persist. The real concern is with our information getting into the hands of bad actors. Evil foreign governments and hackers can probably get into any of the big five databases with a concerted effort. For example, the DNC servers were hacked during the 2016 elections. Even Hillary Clinton’s “secure” private server in her basement was hacked by foreign hackers revealing top State secrets. What is even more concerning is that they control the information we request to examine and search on the net. Facebook is accused of silencing people who differ from their political views and Google gives you the search results which it deems best, not necessarily what you may be looking for. If these companies want the internet to remain free, then they need to insure that the processes remain pure. Once tainted by human intervention, biases will always occur. Artificial intelligence will no doubt make matters worse. Measures need to be put in place by Congress to force these companies to reveal their data collection methods and install security measures for safety from attack. Congress then needs to limit the amount of data that they can collect and then limit the unrestrained dissemination of this information. Will inquires and regulations by Congress ever happen? Probably not. Every stinking politician receives huge campaign contributions from these companies to stay in office and the politicians refuse to make the necessary investigations. Why is Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook afraid to testify before Congress? Because they know regulation is inevitable and they are only prolonging the process. We can take small steps to protect ourselves. Turn unused Apps off. Always turn your computer and cell phone to airplane mode when not on the internet. Use search engines that do not track your data. Call your Congressman or Congresswoman for change or call Julia for sex and Winston Smith for a revolution.
​This aticle was initially posted on Medium March 25, 2020