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America is in a privacy crisis

Results so far:

Disagree
25% 144 votes Total: 587 votes
Agree
75% 443 votes

Privacy is rapidly vanishing in America, but I wouldn't call it a crisis. A crisis implies that it's something that was caused by an outside source and if you take a good look at where society has been going you'd find that any sacrifices of society have come from us "normal people".

Would you like some examples? No problem. I've got a few:

Blogging:
Every day people log on to places like MySpace, Face Book, Live Journal, or any manner of places and tell everyone everything about their lives. They talk about where they like to eat, what they like to see, who they think is really cute. You can find out a person's life story with just a few clicks. It also makes stalking, identity theft, and being a sexual predator rather easy.

OnStar(tm):
A few years back GM started to install a nifty feature in their vehicles that would allow a live service to be available to motorists to help them in the case of an accident, but could also be used to help dial numbers, find restaurants, and get movie tickets. The only thing that people don't like is how this also allows the OnStar Company the ability to know where your car is at any given time. Well, no one is saying you have to get the service. Even if it is installed in your car, you can still opt to not have the actual service. Basically, the button becomes another useless decoration - along with your fuzzy dice and 36" rims.

Reality Shows:
I'm not just talking about dumb shows like "Big Brother" or "Survivor", I'm talking about those little D.I.Y. shows you see on The Discovery Channel where random strangers come into your house and tell you how they're going to fix it up. Of course all the while there's interviews of your family and friends as they tell the world what a loser you are. Again, these people didn't have to let those Tv folks in their house, but they thought "I can be famous!" and next thing you know the world gets to see their fifteen minutes of shame.



The problem is not that the government is "out to get you". It's that no one is doing anything to stop them. The only reason why people are losing their privacy is because they're in too much of a hurry to get rid of it.

Learn more about this author, David Furritus.
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Below are the top articles rated and ranked by Helium members on:

America is in a privacy crisis

Disagree
  • 1 of 14

    by David Furritus

    Privacy is rapidly vanishing in America, but I wouldn't call it a crisis. A crisis implies that it's something that was caused

    read more

  • 2 of 14

    by Harvey Stelman

    The privacy issue means many different things to many different people. I'm not one to back down on what I believe in saying,

    read more

Agree
  • 1 of 42

    by Robin Landry

    Privacy is that state in which we are free from disturbance or intrusion into our personal lives. There was once a time

    read more

  • 2 of 42

    by Keith Worth

    Privacy and security seem locked in an eternal tug-of-war. Whenever one side gains ground, it appears to be at the expense

    read more

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