1 of 1

Yes

Write now Article Tools

I'd like to chime in on the other side of this debate by simply offering a rational perspective to the ideas of privacy and safety in modern society: without actually examining the bare bricks of what we are talking about, how can we do anything more than voice a vague worry that something undefined and terrible will happen with our personal details?

What do we mean when we say 'safe', and what kind of misuse are we guarding against?

Nobody would argue - especially in the light of identity theft and fraud related crimes - that your personal details are 'safe' with the government. Any government can only safeguard against determined thieves as well as any private company can. Likewise corruption can affect either institution. We are, after all, dealing with people here;

Any security system or encryption can be overcome with a given level of knowhow. Having ones details voluntarily stored in a banking system makes them just as vulnerable to attack as having them accrue in some government transaction record. It would appear that either there is no such thing as 'safe' for private information, stored in any form, or else at the very least that the concept of 'safe' is pretty relative in the area of tracking finances, work patterns, social security numbers and all that vital stuff.

To some people, information is money. And if you leave a trail of money behind you, you know people are gonna start following you and picking it up.

So what do you do, in the information age? Keep your money under your bed, work for food and board, or only process your transactions in code in secure vaults of clearing banks? How do you prevent information building up in these systems, in a situation where its safety can never be guaranteed? Buy a shredder? Change your name?

Plainly put, if we use credit cards, electronic transfer systems, or interact with business as a consumer, we are recorded all the time and that information just lies about the place, building up. Anyone who takes a strong mind to can start picking it up and building a picture of us. We have to stop panicking about this simple situation and look at it clearly.

We have to have perspective on this: it applies to everything. If we walk to work, get coffee and lunch and walk home again, there's always the chance that someone will notice us paying for lunch, and follow us home. From there, they can start building a picture of us, going through our trash... my point is that 'safe' is a relative value which goes down the more you

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Is your personal information really safe with governments and private businesses??
We want to hear your view. Write now!