(Thomas Dishaw) These days it seems people are willing to forego privacy and common sense in order to embrace technological advancements that Orwell himself could not have dreamed up.
What people fail to realize, or worse choose to ignore, is how dangerous it is to allow companies or the Government free access to every thought, move, inclination, and desire you have in exchange for certain “conveniences”.
Lets start with the Starbucks phone app which, unfortunately, my wife loves . This app allows customers to organize store gift cards, reload gift cards, find the nearest Starbucks locations, and monitor rewards earned by using the card at any participating Starbucks location, all in the palm of your hand. Seems pretty tame, right? Especially once you factor in that 10% of Starbucks transactions are made through the mobile phone app. Well if you look into and think about how these benefits actually work it tells a frightening tale.
Starbucks is the envy of all corporations, effectively transitioning customers to forget cash, skip debit cards and use their phone to make purchases, putting us one step closer to a cashless society or a chip in our body.
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Next lets take a look at Apple, who is soon to release the new iPhone 5s. Apple is touting its biggest advancement in security which is fingerprint recognition. Privacy advocates like myself are jumping up and down over the rumor of intrusive technologies incorporated into this big brother tracking device. We already know cellphones listen and log every conversation we have even when turned off, and they can also access our cameras and be used as a banking tool soon to replace cash and debit cards. Do we really need to give them the ability to finger print us as well?
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One of the most anticipated events since the return of Jesus Christ is the unveiling of Google Glasses. Tech Slaves are chomping at the bit to spend a hefty $1500 for a pair of zombie glasses to not only have their privacy invaded, but to be given the ability to invade others privacy as well. As we approach brain dead levels of society the thought of people walking around recording your every move while simultaneously texting and watching porn should strike a nerve with anyone who still has a pulse.
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With the unfortunate suspicious death of Michael Hastings, two DARPA carjackers show us how easy it is for a Government agency to take over your automobile through your cars built in technology. It is kind of scary to watch technology manipulate basic driving techniques we take for granted every day. If the thought of gas tank manipulation, speed manipulation and loss of control of your steering wheel don’t scare you, maybe loosing your brakes will. Thanks DARPA for making non believers into believers with this brilliant showcase giving us more proof the Government did murder Michael Hastings.
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One of the more unbelievable and intrusive technologies is the ability of your refrigerator or any other house hold appliance to spy on you. The privacy you thought you had in your own home may not be so private after all. Whats next, the monitoring of food purchases and waist through RFID? Maybe we could link it to Obamacare, making sure we are eating all of our fruits and vegetables? That would make Michelle happy, right? Anything to please our masters.
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These are just the first five examples. Be sure to come back tomorrow to read about the remaining 5 ways Big Brother is taking over our lives.