8 June 1949 George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’ was first published. Globally accepted to be a ‘must read’ for all it coined the term Big Brother, as the omnipresent government among other things held constant surveillance on its citizens, the book gave us the phrase ‘Big Brother is watching you’. Over the years many people, mostly dubbed conspiracy crackpots, I mean theorists, would spout out that our governments are watching, spying and collecting information on each and every one of us and these people were by the by largely ignored (and for good reason). Of course Governments kept tabs on its citizens and visitors should there be just cause, how else were certain criminals and criminal groups/organisations brought to justice? But as for you and me, well we have nothing to fear, nothing to hide and therefore nothing for our Governments to keep tabs on. With the no just cause the vast populous of countries were ignored to get on with their lives knowing that the Government was tracking and capturing evil doers.
Now fast forward to 6 June 2013; news breaks about the existence of PRISM, leaked by NSA contractor Edward Snowden via The Guardian and The Washington Post newspapers. Damn, if only they held back the headlines for two days, that would have had the conspiracy theorists in overdrive. For those of you who have been living under a rock, or China (and if you are still in China you will still not know what’s going on or be reading this article… so who am I writing this for? Anyway…), PRISM is a clandestine national security electronic surveillance program operated by the United States National Security Agency since 2007. The Programs actual title is US-984XN, I kid you not, 984… as in 1984?
Get your tin foil hats on right now people we are in for a ride. Basically the NSA have been ordering all electronic communication companies (phones and internet providers etc.) to hand over every bit of information that passed through their servers on a daily basis. That’s right our American cousins, your elected Government has (allegedly) for the past 6 years been collecting copies of every email and text message you have ever sent, along with recording every phone call you have made and internet site you have visited… no point in deleting that internet history now or switching to ‘in private’ browsing as they already know and always have. This led to reports that other governments being involved, including the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ); however, William Vague, I mean Hague (the Foreign Secretary) cannot confirm nor deny knowing of, using or having access to PRISM or anything similar for national security reasons (or he just doesn’t know, I wouldn’t put is past him).
This brought a lot of rage on both sides of the Atlantic with regard issues on civil rights and privacy. With the backlash in full flow, many communication companies quickly distanced themselves stating that they have not allowed the United States government access to their servers.
Then 10 June 2013 during E3 Microsoft unveiled their latest Xbox, the Xbox One, a machine that they claim is more than just a games console and will be the ultimate in living room entertainment devices (don’t worry this is still the same story). However, this did not come without controversy as among all the razzmatazz, Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will come with an all new Kinect. For the majority of people this was great news, with its Real Vision, Real Motion and Real Voice, this is to change how we not only play games but also interact with our televisions. Then the news dropped, the Kinect will be on at all times, even when in standby, it will be on and will be watching us at all times, recording everything we say and do while also recognising who comes and goes in the room. All this information will be uploaded to Microsofts’ servers and stored for God knows what reason or even for how long. That’s right, Big Brother has a Little Brother and we shall call him Microsoft. Enter the Nerd rage, once again with regard civil rights and privacy.
Now don’t get me wrong I understand the need for civil rights and privacy, I want them and I want to have a private life that is…well private. However; can we really jump up and down, banging our drums while screaming blue murder? Well let me give you two sides of the coin so that you can judge yourself. Firstly in today’s world, with terrorist threats and a growing number of plain old psychopaths roaming the streets, with probable cause and a courts or other legislative branches order, certain peoples data has and will always be accessed and this is something we will can all agree with (whether anything is done with this information is another matter).
Then there is the clause that allows them to sell this information to selected third party companies. Selected third party companies? What is a selected third party company? Generally it is a company who will pay them money to use your information for marketing purposes. That’s right, the company you trust sells your information to make profit, oh the shock, the horror. This has been going on for years and the truth is, we accept it as the services that they provide we either need or want.
Okay, I know, I know, yes Facebook have not given out your information to that third party company; however, have you actually ever read the terms? They gather information from every computer or mobile device that you access Facebook from, they collect GPS location data to know where you are or where you have been. They too share data from third party companies you use and that’s not all, they even take information about you that they can gather from your friends. With all this information they can give it to any affiliate, partner, third party company etc.
‘But they don’t hand out your personal details like your name.’ I hear you cry. Hmm you are correct to a degree, they don’t without your permission, and we won’t give them our permission right? Wrong, you remember that game app you tried from a friend? They may have asked for your permission to access your personal data and you just clicked allow so you can feed that farm dog. Now you’re in trouble, as Facebook has no control what and how these third parties use your data. They could simply publish what they want, how they want and there is nothing you can do as you clicked allow without considering the third parties terms & conditions, you thought they are covered by Facebook’s? I have news for you, they aren’t.
So that’s your personal information and it’s now travelling round the world bouncing of numerous servers under the promise that the companies will not hand them out unless you give permission or they change their terms & conditions, and lets be honest, how many of us read the quarterly change to the iTunes T&C’s, or do you just click yes? If you were so concerned about civil rights and privacy would you honestly had over your details, over and over again?
Do you have a store card or a points card? Yes? Guess what? Yep, you handed your personal details over, again. But this is the fun part, every time you buy an item it registers that against your account. Bingo, your supermarket knows you have size 11 shoes, only wear jeans and t-shirts, have a particular fancy to oranges, a gluten allergy, prefer red to white wine and love a juicy steak. What has this got to do with privacy? Your supermarket has just sold your wine preference to that mail order wine company and your gluten allergy to a specialist cake company, all of whom will be emailing or posting to you details of their fine products. Oh and after they have done that, well why don’t they just pass it on to one of their partners?
Wow, your personal information doesn’t seem that personal anymore does it? You have past it on to 5 companies, who have passed it on to another 5, who have chosen to sell it onto 5 more. That 125 companies that hold your personal information, with each firm employing anywhere from a couple to thousands of employees, you are not that private.
Lets move on to the other areas, how about your thoughts and dreams? They’re safe right? Of course they are, I’m being stupid, they’re in your head and unless people can read minds or have access to a Nygma machine your okay. Oh hello, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, what are you doing here? Well while you are here let me tell you what I’m doing and thinking. Even better let me show you with these lovely photographs I have taken with Instagram. That’s right, we are now freely offering our thoughts and opinions to the big wide world for all to see and store away. We all have that friend who posts about how awesome their life is, the one who constantly sounds like they’re on suicide watch, and the one who posts all those pictures of their child at bath time.
You want to keep your thoughts private between you and your friend? Well that’s fine, you can use email to send a private message. Nobody would every look at your emails right? Wrong, email companies often scan your emails to provide you with better advertising and relevant articles. Google even provide you with adverts at the top of your Gmail inbox that relate to the content of your emails and your browsing history. All those adverts for mature lonely women available now in your area, I’d look at your browsing history or ask your husband. Now they have read your emails, logged your browsing history, what do they do? What every company does, they sell your profile on to affiliates and third party companies.
So you now hopefully realise that you have constantly given you personal details and private information to the big wide world and you are more well known than you realised. So why so much rage? The information PRISM is collecting and Xbox want to collect is already out there. The only difference is consent right? Sure, you have the option to click that little consent box at the bottom of websites, you know the ones that say if you want your details passed on or not. But guess what? Xbox are offering the same thing with their Kinect, you can chose what information they collect and share. That’s more that what Google offer their email customers. Sure it’s less than what PlayStation do, but they firstly, don’t have a Kinect and secondly, they were hacked, that’s not very secure now is it?
So this Nerd rage over the snooping of the Kinect and its unacceptable information gathering, I have news for you, you can restrict it and then, if you still feel that is not enough just take a good look at all the information you have already shared and will do in future. You are still in a rage over your civil rights and privacy? Then don’t buy the new Xbox and throw away your computer, stop your online gaming and shopping. You have a choice, you have the rights. No like? No buy, it’s that simple. I’d rather just switch it off and chose what I share.
Lets be honest, how many of you have an open Facebook profile? This has, if you access via a mobile device, your mobile number, your email address, many of you have even ‘checked in’ to your actual homes for the world to see where you live and you openly advise when you are not home. This Microsoft nerd rage is a ridiculous media and crackpot hyped scaremongering campaign that has Sony rubbing their hands as they watch the cash roll in. Because they don’t keep and sell your data at all.
I would therefore urge you to please calm down and consider what you are saying and doing. Then once you have done, take care with your information, look at what you are sharing and who with and above all, read those pesky T&C’s. You see, once you control the flow of information you are giving, the less there is to be shared and therefore obtained by our governments. If once done you are still not happy with your governments electronic surveillance measures, sign those petitions (yes I am fully aware of the fact you need to hand over your details to sign an anti privacy petition) and stand up and be heard. Attend local government meetings or write to your representative, set out in good constructive points what is wrong with what they are doing. Because it is scary, Orwell’s vision of a future is coming more and more to fruition.
At this moment, the US government is on the cusp of starting down a dangerous path, the western world is and should always be a free democracy, we cannot start down the path of the likes of North Korea, China or Burma. These countries restrict what its people can and cannot read, learn or do. If we allow these bills to pass through to law then before we know it we will be living in our own Oceania.
Should you have any concerns with your privacy or security there are a number of firms and websites out there to help you. Oh and there is always us friendly lot here are Geek Pride who are willing to offer friendly advise and opinions (just don’t sue us).