Some people assume privacy is a right granted by the US Constitution, but it isn’t. The word appears nowhere in the document. The Supreme Court drew inferences to that right in 1965 through provisions in the 1st, 5th, 9th and 14th amendments. However, court interpretations can change so the only way to address overreach, as in the case of NSA, is through federal legislation.
Even so, the public may never achieve full protection. NSA isn’t the only group prone to snooping. Commercial forces are at work every hour of every day. Business believes the more it targets its audience, the more it can sell.
With so many eyes upon us, some people are beginning to feel exploited and are looking for ways to regain their anonymity. According to writer, Selena Larson, that won’t be easy. (ReadWrite.com, excerpted in The Week, Feb 21, 2014, pg. 16) She invites us to consider the process for disengaging from a single social network like Facebook, for example.
“First download all the data associated with your social networking accounts, including archives of your status updates or contacts, then track down the ‘deactivate’ or ‘Close’ options.”
If you have long-forgotten accounts there’s more to do. A browser extension called “Just Delete Me,” can jog your memory by providing “a directory of account deletion links for more than 300 sites.” In a pinch, there are mobile applications you can buy like Secret, Whisper and Snapchat that can help you fade. (Ibid, pg. 16.)
Unfortunately, using software to erase electronic footprints can make us more rather than less vulnerable, for it can leave footprints, too, according to writer, Mai Cutler. (Tech.Crunch.com, excerpted from The Week, Feb, 21, 2014 pg. 16.) Realistically, she says we have no real hope of totally erasing our electronic selves because the prevalence of passive data collection exists — video recordings that monitor our progress through a store, for example
Only one device guarantees the broadest spectrum of privacy and is also the most economic: Silence. But I suppose that’s too low tech to be of interest.
(Courtesy of www.whale.to)
