I saw a snippet of a talk pointing out that Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and others design software from the ground up to spy on you. Sometimes a blatant statement of a problem reminds you of it.
People are learning about the problems with large corporations and governments having so much information on you, though they don’t know what to do about it because they have no alternatives. Gmail benefits them more in the moment than the cost of possible problems in the future.
Geeks recognized these problems decades ago and started creating tools to protect privacy. Tools are emerging to give people more alternatives.
Just like Linux on servers kept Microsoft from monopolizing all servers — can you imagine what would happen with one company (one convicted anti-competitive behavior for abusing its monopoly) owning all the gateways to the internet? — alternatives to central databases like Facebook, Gmail, etc. will give you options to giving corporations and government more data on yourself than you have.
Even if you’re not a geek you may get something out of the video — recognizing the invasiveness of non-free software or the potential to contribute to alternatives.
It sounds like I can’t get a freedombox just yet….too bad. You know how on TV when people want to communicate with each other and not have it be traced, they use “burner phones”? Buy a prepaid phone in cash, make the calls you need, then toss the phone. I wonder if we are getting to the point where in order to avoid being tracked online, we should start using “burner” tablets or laptops (especially now that they are getting so cheap) and access the internet with wifi cards paid for in cash. I haven’t implemented this idea yet, but I’m getting there…
The “your papers, please” cliche that used to signal a movie took place in a authoritarian culture is becoming increasingly common in the U.S. today. I noticed this graphic today — http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/04/naked-and-thorough-examination-of-tsa.html.