The world is turning into Orwell's 1984 right under our eyes. I just found out that my "dear" motherland has taken an illegal DNA sample from me, without notifying me, and it seems impossible to get them to destroy it. I am not a criminal or terrorist but I really had enough of privacy intrusion. I simply will not go to the USA because I refuse to be fingerprinted and iris-scanned by the US. They already have my internet usage (Hi NSA!) and it's a matter of principle not to agree to be treated like a criminal by a foreign country that thinks everyone must dance to its tune. If I must go to North America I'm sure Canada will be just as nice. The DNA sample I mentioned earlier was "stolen" as I registered to be a blood donor. Eventually I wasn't suitable, as I turned out to be anemic. But the DNA sample was still extracted and sent off to the state storage facility. They didn't bother to inform me about it, I found out about it on an alternative media site. When I went to renew my passport recently, I was fingerprinted. They told me I'd either have to provide the fingerprint, or they won't issue a passport. Since I travel all the time, I absolutely need one. Previously they used to photograph the ear, so they also have an identifying shot of my ear. The fingerprinting was specifically started at the strong recommendation of guess which country? Then we have the UK, where you're lucky to walk half a block without being on CCTV - state, council, public or privately owned. They all want to film us as much as possible. My bank that I've been with for over 10 years recently sent a letter saying that they needed to see my passport due to a government (UK) requirement. If I don't provide this, they'll restrict the account. When I asked them why they suddenly needed this after 10 years, they said it was a gov't requirement They couldn't answer the question of what the government needed the info for. Then we have all the narcisstic people who are writing every little detail about their lives under their own name online, for the rest of the world to see, forever. "On 10 Jan, x had a fight with y, ate spagetthi for dinner and watched the Matrix for the tenth time. " Add all of this together and I'm asking: What the hell is happening to the Western world? (this is only affecting parts of Europe and North America at present) I find this lack of privacy intolerable. They had more privacy in East Germany with Stasi than today. Seriously - that's what you'll find if you compare. Others equally disturbed with all this? Anyone writing a book in which this plays in?
In a fictional context yes. Only when people push back will the grab on privacy stop. Unfortunately so many people don't mind giving up their privacy for protection, even if it paints them as a terrorist. Cause they sure as hell don't stop much of the bad guy activities, but make everyone else want to wear lead panties to keep the gov from looking at their junk.
I don't know about the UK but in America we have HIPAA. (Upon further research you have something equivalent called the Data Protection Act which does the same thing.) This means that any agency that collects any health information about you, cannot be used by another agency (sinister government politburo or otherwise), without your express written permission. You would have signed some paperwork, that I assume you didn't read, informing you of this when you gave blood. They can't take samples without that. That DNA will be used if you come back in so they don't have to continuously check it again and again. I can't vouch for any of the other stuff, but not wanting to be in the system, because there's a system that you don't want to be a part of, sound like an circuitous and exhausting philosophy.
I noticed 2 things on the subject recently. Not in a book but in life: 1) My new cell phone automatically cross referenced all of my information. 2) My Dad never gave Social Security numbers out, it was illegal to ask for them or use them for identification. When I got my Driver's License I was given a seperate number for identification. My daughter was required to give it in order to get hers. I don't recall any overturning of the previously mentioned law making that illegal. I'm in the USA.
Yeah - very creepy with this cross referencing on the mobile phone. Happened to me - I was in a completely different country and got a new phone. All my apps from a phone I had two years back was dumped onto the new phone. I think it must have happened via the google account I signed in with. Google really is mega creepy. As for the USA, I think it's turning into a police state right under the noses of all Americans. While they TALK of freedom, liberty, democracy and amendments, they are being spied on, subjected to various bizarre check-points, higher percentage in prisons than the USSR under Stalin. Etc. Not my problem since I don't live there, but what happens in the US usually spreads to Europe where it takes a life of its own... The 21st century version of "1984" is a bestseller waiting to be published. But hurry up before it becomes illegal to publish or purchase such a book.
It plays a key role in my novel but you only have half of it. It's not just your identifiers, and it isn't mainly the government, it's the marketplace that collects a massive amount of data on you.
The world is going to get messy when shit hits the proverbial fan. It is inevitable, but when is anyone's guess. No empire has withstood the test of time and none ever will. As things get worse the masses will fight back, and things will get ugly. Kind of scary to think about, but it is going to happen eventually. Funny how history has a way of repeating itself time and time again. Oh well, that's the human condition, lather, rinse, repeat.
Another thing... The last two jobs I got required me to use a paycard or have a bank account. My husband gets a paper check and ended up with another pay card in order to cash it. I like cash, for some reason I'm more responsible with it. Both cards, as well as bank accounts, cost money just to use. I agree most of the info stuff is company based and not government based. All government has to do, though, is gain access to it. Google is ... probably bigger and more capable than anyone thought or intended. If you Google something, try it again the next day. It's sort of like the google algorithm spends the night finding everything it can on the subject. I often find much better results the second day. I try very hard not to involve myself with conspiracy stuff. My imagination seems to notice anyway though. lol
I'm not that concerned about most of the things, myself. Particularly fingerprints: there's nothing really "private" about them in my view. Someone's fingerprint doesn't tell you anything intimate about them. It's just a unique way of identifying someone. The same goes for iris scans, etc. Someone can know your fingerprint, how tall you are, what your favorite color is, but that doesn't really tell them who you are. Social media posts are a little bit different. In a way, we have all revealed more about who we are by posting in this thread than we could ever reveal by giving the government our fingerprints. But the problem is that no one -- not the government, not google -- really knows what to do with the data. The NSA hasn't caught any terrorists with all this stuff they know, and the ads that Google serves up are never things I'm actually interested in buying. If anything, I think the cameras, drones, etc. are all just the government wasting money on cool toys. The things that scare me, personally, are the more concrete dangers, like SWAT teams being used on drug raids, and as you mentioned, the high incarceration rate. These are, I think, cases of government agencies being way too "gung-ho" about stopping crime. I don't think, though, that either the government or Google have bad intentions. They're much more interested in stabbing other high-level bureaucrats / executives in the back than us normal people. I see what you mean, but to me, that isn't creepy. There isn't anything personal or private in the app choices that you download off of the app store. I expect Google to be prudent with its choice of who to share that information with, and to be careful about not leaking that information to hackers by accident, but I don't fault them for storing it. By storing it, they provide a slightly useful feature of letting me read through a list of stuff I've downloaded on previous devices. To me, the negative of this information possibly being leaked is far less concerning than the benefits of them syncing the data. Things like search history are another story, and I can understand people being concerned about that information. But I think it's worth remembering that google is a business that is offering a service for free. Their main business model revolves around leveraging your data and attention span with other companies by selling advertisements. If you have a problem with that, you can always use DuckDuckGo, although the quality will not be as good, because they don't have as much money to invest in making their product better. If you don't want to use Android, you can always use open-source phone operating systems as well.
Technology has given politicians great power and with great power comes great responsibility abuse of power. Oops. Did I say that out loud?
Perhaps, but things are better than the days when the King/Emporer/Pharoh could have you executed if you looked at him funny. Technology grants the power to oppress, yes, but also allows people across a country to communicate with each other anonymously. To voice concerns about said politicians, without those politicians being able to do much about it. I would argue that technology has lead to much more freedom for the average person than before. The ability to compare the prices you see in the store to the prices elsewhere. The ability to search for jobs online in a completely different state. Access to knowledge that otherwise could have been inaccessible or suppressed. These are very powerful things, and should not be taken lightly.
