Big brothers twin

Almost everyone has heard about “big brother” and most even have an idea what it’s all about. But just in case someone has slipped through the cracks and doesn’t know; it is the government sticking its long nose into our every day lives. That is a much abbreviated version, but I hope you get the idea.

Now, the question is: Do you know about his twin? Yes, there is a twin, but it is not just one centralized entity. There are a myriad of information gathers out there who know almost everything about you.

Let us start with a few simple information gathers you may not have thought about. The insurance industry for one. If you have insurance and almost everyone has some kind. You have given out more information about yourself than you know. With health or life insurance: they know your age, birth date and place. The kind of work you do, where you live, your health history and the names of family members. Add to that, automobile insurance and they have the make, model and year of the cars you drive. Plus how many miles a year you drive, the kind of driving you do, any accidents or tickets you’ve gotten, even your credit rating. That is a lot of information to be giving out, but it doesn’t stop there.

The banking industry also holds most of your vital statistics. You have given them your annual income, credit rating, spending habits and in general, your life style.

The utility companies also hold a vast amount of information. They know the types of major home appliances you own, the size of the house or apartment you live in, when it was built and how long you have lived there. This category also includes the entertainment and communications people, like cable or satellite and telephone companies. They know what time you watch television, what programming holds your interest and even the age brackets of the people in the household. With the phones, they know who you call, when you call them, where they live, how often you talk and for how long.

That brings us to the internet. As soon as you log on to the internet, you have given out your location, type of internet connection and type of computer. When you go to any site, they know the operating system and version you have, the browser you use, screen resolution, any firewalls you have in place, the virus protection you have and many other programs you have running or disabled on your computer. They can tell some of the hardware you have connected to your computer, like a camera, sound devices, printer, etc. They also can track the sites you go to, how much time you spend there and how often you are on the sites. They know what you download; your e-mail addresses and can even find out what music you listen to. You give all this information without them ever asking you for it. There are other sites which require you give them even more information about yourself and I’m not talking about just the ones who ask for things like your age or e-mail address. There are sites which require you to either have or download another program to view the site. You can give out much more information if you are unlucky. They can, with the right tools, get into your computer from anywhere in the world! That leaves you open to a stranger getting all the personal information you have on the computer. Yes, you can be giving out everything you have on the computer, from birthdays to account numbers, pictures and even your personal thoughts and ideas you put in a word document.

This has been called the information age, and how true it is. The total of your life is out there. The information can be used in any number of ways, from benign statistics to identity cloning or thief. The information can be kept, given away or sold, and you have no say.

There are laws in place to help safeguard the information, but not every country has these laws or abides by the laws of other countries. Then there are the hackers who use the system to their own ends.

So now you know every bit of your life is out there for the taking. That’s a scary thought, right? You may ask how this could be? Well, don’t look to the government to correct the problem, there is no way they can solve it. Look to the programs! Look to the designers of the software you use! They have made it so you have to use the programs in ways which open the door to your life. Why would an internet site need to know what programs you have running, the type of browser or the operating system you use? The answer is information! The more they know, the better they can control.

Our world is connected by computers and the internet. With all your information sitting in data banks, anyone with the knowledge, tools can and will find any and everything they want. Even the most secure departments of the government have hackers stealing information from them! They have security measures in place you can’t even imagine, so just how secure is your computer? You can think of it this way; your home may have locks on the doors and windows, but if someone really wants in, they can get in. If they just want to see what you have, they can merely peek in a window to see, and then decide if it is worth breaking in to steal from you. So, in short, any defense you think you have can be circumvented if someone really wants in.

This has all been a very light and shallow overview of what can be gotten. If you think about it, the every detail of our lives is out there. Do you really want that much information floating around about you for anyone to seize?

Are you paranoid when everyone really is out to get you?

Ed Williams
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