One of the most troubling aspects of internet technology has always been its power to provide users with anonymity. For years people have been able to log in anonymously from anywhere in the world and make comments, write posts and send emails with relative ease and freedom, but things are beginning to change. IP addresses, MAC addresses, email accounts, browsing histories and now phone numbers are slowly being accumulated by internet companies in order to crack down on perceived internet abuses. Clearly there is a need to track and trace those people who revel in anonymity and delve into the darker criminal aspects of the World Wide Web, but should this come at the expense of everyone else’s individual freedoms? As we move into a greater digital age, information technology continues to move at a break neck pace. The interweb is changing rapidly, and this time ‘Big Brother’ is being hotwired directly into the mainframe…
Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 information gathering and electronic surveillance systems have expanded dramatically throughout the western world. The UK is now the most watched country in the world. In the UK in 2006 there were an estimated 4.2m CCTV cameras across the country. That was 3 years ago. Lord knows just how many more we have now. The major argument for ‘Big Brother’ has always been that increased digital surveillance helps to deter and detect criminal activity, and that’s fine with me. I’m all for stopping criminals, terrorists and rapists, but does ‘Big Brother’ have the right to spy on my shopping or browsing habits? Do I no longer have the right to individual privacy?
Certain shopping centres like Princesshay, in Exeter, now have the ability to GPS track mobile phone signals in order to gather information regarding customer shopping trends. Other shopping centres have the ability to Bluetooth adverts directly to your mobile as soon as you enter the premises. Privacy seems to no longer exist within the UK. The government already collects and monitors vast amounts of electronic communications in order to keep us safe, but what right do companies have to collect information about us? They aren’t keeping us safe or protecting us from psychopaths, instead they are trying to make money, as much money as possible. The contents of my shopping bag, where I want to shop and how often I buy a product is no-one else’s business but mine. I’m willing to relinquish certain civil liberties in order to protect our society, but these transgressions are not about the overall safety of our country, they are about consumerism.
Google is probably one of the 21st century’s biggest success story, they are a modern day triumph of internet technology and consumerism. What most people fail to discern is that Google itself is a service. People use Google’s search engine because it works, and if you do use it you unfortunately have to play within their rules. Google itself has become synonymous with the internet. It has become increasingly harder to distinguish between Google as a product and between the WWW as a technology due to Google’s ever increasing monopoly.
In recent months Google announced a new advertising system that is specifically designed and targeted towards user profiles. Google’s system analyses and tracks people’s browsing history and search trends, it then uses this information, along with other information such as location, to specifically target adverts to consumers. Once again ‘Big Brother’ is collecting information about us that it really has no right to know. In another development, Google’s successful Gmail system now requires a mobile contact number and accounts need to be verified via sms text message. Google’s support page states:
“One of the reasons we’re offering this new way to sign up for Gmail is to help protect our users and combat abuse. Spam and abuse protection are two things we take very seriously”
It also notes:
“In doing so, we store each phone number to make sure it is used to create a limited number of accounts.
Your number will also be associated with your account to avoid unnecessary future verifications for other Google services. In accordance with this policy, your number will never be sold or shared for marketing purposes without your permission, nor will we contact you using this number without your express permission”
But it does not state whether Google itself will use your number for its’ own data collection. In a sense Google will be able to collect and allocate information about you, your browsing histories and your search trends, while at the same time identifying this information with a specific person and their contact details. As one website perhaps cynically notes:
“We can’t help but wonder if there is some deeper purpose to all this. With Google’s push into the mobile market recently—with hosts of mobile apps, phone oriented services like latitude, and of course Google Android—the integration of mobile phone numbers with Google accounts may be part of a broader integration of mobile phones and Google services.”
Just remember folks on the internet no one can hear you scream….
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