Have you ever read George Orwell’s book, 1984? Fifty-six years ago, Orwell created a fictitous world where Big Brother (the government) delved so deeply into its citizens lives that it could completely control them.
Do you remember when, two years ago, Congress shut down the Total Information Awareness program because it collected too much private information on US citizens? According to the National Journal, TIA Lives On
A controversial counter-terrorism program, which lawmakers halted more than two years ago amid outcries from privacy advocates, was stopped in name only and has quietly continued within the intelligence agency now fending off charges that it has violated the privacy of U.S. citizens.
The questions of the day are:
- How do you feel, knowing that the US government is running computer programs to match up all records about you in all of their own databases plus records in every other database that they can reach? This would include data such as: tax returns, passport records, driver’s license records, phone calls, credit card charges, toll booths used, airplane tickets purchased, books read, magazines subscribed to, etc.
- How do you feel, knowing that the government is running this in secret, against the supposed direct instructions of Congress?
My worry-factor increases every time our country moves a little closer to the scenario described in 1984.
Thanks to Slashdot for pointing this out.
