Big Brother Doesn't Care About Me

My wife and I rely on Skype for our communication, it is a wonderful thing. But doesn't our reliance on and confidence in it put us at risk of becoming victim to some sort of "Enemy of the State" conspiracy in which the evil one behind dozens of computer terminals knows our every move and thought?

Indeed, it seems that the infrastructure for Orwell's 1984 is firmly in place.

But, instead of being hapless victims in the scheme to steal our anonymity, privacy, and individuality, we're willing accomplices! We voluntarily submit as much information to the machine as we possibly can.

I play along, of course. I don't worry one bit. As a matter of fact, it is one of my goals-- and I know I am not alone-- to rank as high as I possibly can on a Google search of my name. This is the price of status in our brave new world.

Some years ago I participated in the "unionization of we web surfers." The company was called AllAdvantage, and it paid people to surf while displaying ads in their proprietary ad bar. I must have made about $1500 all told.

A coworker scoffed, informing me that they were tracking my purchases, site activity, and personal habits on the web. No amount of money would be enough for him to surrender such private information.

Not for me. $30 bucks will do it in most cases. Call me naive, but I don't care if some computer in silicon valley knows what web sites I've visited, or if some algorithm in a grocery store's computer knows what kind of peanut butter I usually buy on weekends.

As to Skype, I told me wife that anyone who had the capability of listening in on our conversations probably had more important things-- or people-- to listen to.

All this technology is making my life easier. And if I worry too much about all the bad that could come of it, then I'm only making Big Brother suspicious.