You say that what is going on in the area of vast amounts of individual private data in the hands of these big companies is not like Frankenstein, however I disagree strongly. The mad scientists (now fully enabled by huge corporations) have already taken our personhood, our identity, and our humanity away for their private profit. They continue to degrade us in new ways every day. Remember, this is not a democracy. We do not get to vote on any of these things. We did not get to vote that a secret, privately controlled and generated number controls our ability to get credit, jobs or a home. But that is what your ‘credit score’ is, for example. The FBI, NSA and others can listen in on any of your conversations 24/7, if you have a cell phone—and track you, too. Did you get to vote on the cell phone companies giving your tracking info to who knows who? The national ID system is just about ready, too.

“Social networking” is nothing but the latest in a long line of sales gimmicks masquerading as ‘a positive vision of the future’ to trick stupid consumers . It is a euphuism for technologically based corporate fascism, aided and abetted by a supine and craven government completely out of touch with reality.

Of course, the various supermarket conglomerates promise, promise, promise that they would NEVER share your private data with ANYbody. . . they’re just using it internally, to “enhance your shopping experience” by providing you with targeted marketing, right?
It’s completely inconceivable that they might be selling the information they collect to, say, health insurance providers, right? (”Hmm. . . we’re not going to cover the costs of your recent heart attack–just look at the amount of butter and red meat you’ve purchased over the past ten years!”).

Or perhaps your auto insurance provider? (”Based upon the amount of wine you purchase on a regular basis, we consider you at increased risk for drunken driving, and are increasing your premium accordingly.”) Or maybe your employer?

There’s no free lunch. If the grocery stores are offering you a discount, it’s because somebody is willing to pay them big bucks for the information you willingly surrender. And promises of confidentiality are meaningless in a world where accidental security breaches are disturbingly commonplace–for the right price, “accidents” are easily arranged.

I’m not a conspiracy theory kind of person; I’d really like to believe that my refusal to accept the wonderful discounts being offered to me verges on the paranoid.
But given the amazing and worrisome growth in datamining capabilities, both private and governmental, paranoia seems the pragmatic option here.

Perhaps innovation and individual liberties aren’t inherently opposed, but a glance around the landscape suggests the difficulty in investing more deeply in the bounty of tech-enabled consumerism without sacrificing our personal privacy. Thousands of…

This story has been submitted to Stirrdup. Your support can help it become hot….