The Horse has Long Left . . . That Stable

This is a post on my Facebook Wall:

"What this whole Snowdenn/Greenwald 'storm' shows is that:

The government has 'the capability' to spy 'on all of us!!! Aauugh!!!'

Duh.

You ok with getting a warrant first for a phone tap, FB, or e-mail account access, etc?

. . . Then you're explicitly acknowledging AND ACCEPTING that the government has the same 'possibility' and 'capability' of intruding on YOUR privacy!

How?

Criminals AND terrorists use the same social media, Internet service providers, e-mail companies, etc that we ALL do.  Executing a 'warrant' for the content of any of these means, infers that the 'capability' to glean the 'content' of your 'communications' without the owner's knowledge or consent EXISTS!

Saying it all 'sensationalist' like Greenwald and the Press have been blaring that 'Big Brother has the capability of watching Anybody' is, when you look at the reality of the tech today and for decades now, a ridiculous assertion, who's horse has left that stable since the 19th century!

Metadata?

What do you think is on your phone bill?  If Verizon can 'reproduce' it to satisfy a subpoena then they are IN FACT 'collecting Metadata' on millions of their users ALL THE TIME.  And as someone who's into tech, saying 

"but they erase it after 18 months . . ."

. . . is also no comfort because digital data is NEVER truly 'gone' and is relatively easy to recover.  They may erase the company servers, but how many of you out there wipe your hard drives of your desktop, laptop, smart devices 'securely' via DOD methods, which is not available to the public most times and/or is so costly it's prohibitive to the average joe to part with the cash for it!

The thing is you are NOT EVER 'alone' and you are being tracked constantly and the 'data' is being used in ways you did not intend or even understand . . . BUT modern day life has 'required' an 'acceptance' of this intrusion.

You may bitch about not wanting the government to have that capability . . . but when have they NOT HAD the capability!?

You may say that you at least by signing a contract 'gave Verizon only!' 'Access' to your 'stuff'.

Seriously?  

PEOPLE work at these companies, just like Snowden and they don't always operate on the up and up.

Using the 'scary logic' of the Glenn Greenwalds and Snowden's of the world:

You can't trust the government . . . so what makes you think you can trust a private corporation?

You talk about future governments abusing the technology and capability possibly?

Valid point.

But if you persist in patronizing the services of ANY For Profit tech company you give over yourself as well.

How?

We know that CEO's and President's like the Koch's and others(Remember Benz and BMW's roles in Germany in WWII as corporate backers of the Hitler regime?) have been forceful supporters in rhetoric and finance of one ideology or the other.

If government changes, like it does in this place, to one that believes nothing should be sacred or private from the authorities, and these companies support that, they arguably could submit your 'info' in secret and without your consent as well BECAUSE THEY 'KEEP' YOUR INFO, AND HAVE ACCESS TO IT 24/7!

Think about that.

Nothing can stop them.

So calm down, reacting to the 'old movie' like this and quit thinking there's a horse trapped in the stable . . . because the only one you'll find that is 'trapped' is yourself, as you inhale the fog of ignorance and naïveté.

To Greenwald and others I say . . .

"Ahhmmm . . . AND!???""

Dénouement

Listen folks, the concerns over privacy are valid points.  All I'm saying is the argument is hugely one-sided and so sensationalized that we're losing  a real, serious opportunity to discuss and subsequently decide what sort of society we're living and want to live in.  My post points out a Truth that quells the crux of the furor right now, in my opinion.

We SHOULD BE concerned about privacy, or more aptly, 'relative privacy' for our communications.  The problem is most naively can't accept that there NEVER WAS REAL PRIVACY in the first place for ANY of our electronic means of communication!

THAT is the point of my post.

We can't even decide what 'relative privacy' means or should entail because folks are insisting on a standard that simply NEVER applied or COULD apply!  REAL PRIVACY is conversation in person between two people in an area where no one else or no recording devices are.  Old fashioned face-to-face communication . . . but we are 'addicted' to every other type of communication BUT that!  In fact many cant 'bear' looking another human being in the eyes and talking, because we are ravaged by all sorts of neurosis that render us inept.

So we choose 'the anonymous' supposed 'distance' of the tech for our 'comfort' but in doing so you GAVE UP 'anonymity'!  I'm simply pointing that out above.

Snowden's coup' is simply a regurgitation of a reality that has been in existence since the 19th century when the first recording device was granted a patent and subsequently used numerous times by law enforcement.

My post is to tell folks:

Where have YOU been!?

(C) Dike Matthew