You know the saying that Google will know if you are gay before you do?
Almost the same, but a little different, can be said about the government.
The government knows who you have been talking to on the phone and who your friends are – and who their friends are. The government knows where you have been and who else might have been in the same place at the same time. The government knows when you connected to the internet, who you sent an email and the people that have emailed you. Data is stored about your every text message, and in some countries that go for the content of the messages as well.
In the UK Big Brother will even keep an eye on your web searches, if the government gets it its way.
The government knows who your friends are and what people you are trying to avoid. It can tell who you do business with and what people you sleep with. It can figure out your hobbies and your whereabouts. And it can flag you if a friend of your friend is someone the people in power do not approve of.
With Google – at least, it’s about selling you stuff, to expose you to “relevant” ads and to make a buck. (But World Domination, really?)
But with the Goovernment – it’s all about control. And power. Over you. For real.
Put one on top of the other, and it gets even more scary. (The government doesn’t need Google to cooperate in this. Much of the data is out on the market.)
All of this while government doings are getting more opaque, more secretive and more dubious.
This is not the way to do things in an open, democratic society.
/ HAX
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