I'm Going to Tell Mommy!!!

(political/privacy rant follows)

That's what my little brother used to tell me when I did something I wasn't allowed to do. The difference now is that there is no mommy to tell when there's a problem serious enough to warrant it. Big Brother is also your mom, dad, and the police, little bro. Sorry 'bout that. I did what I could; or at least more than most.

I've been screaming about privacy issues for 2 decades now, and not surprisingly, the response has always been one of shock over me reacting so negatively to having my guns taken away (The Brady Bill and other attempts by HCI), to having the cable guy telling the police I have 4 dogs in my house (patriot act) - in several places I have lived, this # of dogs was illegal, and oh-so-many other things. I mean,.. if I have nothing to hide, I should have no problems with it, right?

Does anybody have nothing to hide? Readership is up to about 20 on this blog. I know most of you and I *know* we all have skeletons.

Now my employer, assuming they are still my employer by then, is requiring fingerprinting and retinal scanning, along with their ongoing practice of scanning of *my* network for their safety(something I must agree to if I am to connect to their network.. which I must do to work and be paid).

The Federal Government is now mandating a uniform drivers license that among other things will have your SSN (and therefore credit and background check) information on it, and will be stored electronically with a digital photograph for easier transmission to various government agencies.

Additionally, this is the first in a series of steps in making the driver's license a federally owned and regulated process thereby allowing them to do things I can't even begin to imagine. If you've ever read any of the reasons why a universal ID is a bad idea, you can fill in the blanks.

Students in many schools are now being required (without parent permission) to wear RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags
to track their every move. They can tell where you are on campus every second of every day. Oddly, even though schools find this suitable for living, breathing human beings, lawyers are cautioning against it's use for dead folks.

I wonder how much longer it will be until we are no longer allowed to access the Internet, you know.. for our own safety. Maybe they should close all Internet Cafes like another country has done.

People are we really that afraid of our own neighbors? Do you really think that the police and the government are here to help you?

Do you really think that you have any *right* to privacy? Try again. Here is an excellent presentation about what rights you really have.

Do you think that even though you are told by the government that you have the right to refuse your SSN that if you do, you are in some way protected? *bzzt* Wrong answer! You should refuse, but here's something you probably didn't know. If you refuse to supply your social security number to *anyone*, THEY have the legal right to refuse you service.

This doesn't include just minor things like library cards and admission to your buddy's bowling league, but to services that can make or break your entire life/career. Universities, drug testing facilities, the FAA (pilot's licenses), the central nursing/nursing assistant database, and so many more things.

Now that this is all off my chest (at least for the next 5 minutes) and has been posted for less than an hour I get an email telling me not only how wrong I am saying these things about Big Brother and how paranoid I am; but also how much trouble I'm going to get into one of these days for saying such things. Do you not see the irony, the stupidity in what you are saying? "Fear not, for they will protect us. Be afraid, for they are watching?".

Sheesh. They probably own the blogging sites, and you will be in as much trouble for reading this as I will be for writing it.

At least we can all sleep at night knowing that if we get cancer, all we need is a shot of the HIV virus to set us straight again.