You can't swing a cat without hitting someone on a cell phone, either on a call, texting, or listening to Lady Gaga singing something semi-annoying. It's surreal to see three or four people walking along, apparently having a schizophrenic episode, where each is talking to an invisible person, speaking out loud about such things like: who's dating whom, who's sleeping with whom, who's coming to the party at Tommy's tonight, what you think about Mary and Billy now that Mary is pregnant with Stevies child and Billy has just come out of the closet and his mother doesn't know it yet, and so on and so on. Then you realize these people who you thought were crazy, are all on cell phones using Blue Tooth techology and you have the epiphany that privacy has been pirated by our modern toys and past times.
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| Making a call was simple back then |
Cell phones have come a long way since the days when they looked like military radios used to call in air strikes against the Luftwaffe. Not only are they sleek, thin, and light, they can play music, go online, text, take photos, do the math, store thousands of phone numbers and personal information, and even record messages. One thing that cell phones could do, that the cell phone companies didn't advertise so much, is their ability to physically track your whereabouts through an internal GPS (Global Positioning System) that is now accurate within three feet of your location.
But this is only one aspect of how our privacy has been pirated by others.
Facebook and other social media sites know more about you, in many ways, than your own family. But Facebook isn't Faceless, it's a site where people can read all about you, and other companies can learn about your preferences and shopping habits. This is also true with internet providers who can track your web address travels and share it with their advertisers. Flickr, the photography site owned by Yahoo, displays your personal photos, and if you don't secure your privacy on this site, it can be pirated by anyone coming across your location.
We complain about our lack of privacy, but it is we who give it away freely. We're the one putting out our information, and then we're surprised when someone steals it and uses it to steal even more from you.
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| Post-truck accident with dismembered hand |
There are, of course, situations where your information is literally stolen from you using electronic piracy. I'm referring to those devices that can read your credit card information and the thief can use your account to buy anything from toilet water to islands in the Caribbean. That's why I bought an "As Seen on TV" aluminum wallet for a mere $9.99. It's so strong a truck can run it over and it still keeps on walleting. If it happens to be in your pocket when the truck runs over it, well, who cares, eh? But those electronic credit card readers cannot zap your wallet's contents and read your card--until you take it out of your wallet to actually use your card to pay for something, which, to my way of thinking, may be a flaw in the idea. Besides, those aluminum "As Seen on TV" wallets can't hold very much--maybe one credit card, a library card, health card, and a paper dollar.
I'm no security expert, but I understand the importance of our personal privacy--some things just aren't anyone's business.
If you are interested in terrorism and suspense, I have provided 2 links (below) for a hard copy (soft cover) edition and an eBook edition of my latest novel, Jihad Joe. It's a story about Zed Nill, a New York based reporter, taken hostage by Islamic terrorists. He must escape, or be beheaded the following day . . . the clock is ticking.
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