The End Of Privacy?

On one hand, technology enables us.

On the other, it disables us.

Sure, we're coughing up information on Facebook, trying to make it evaporate after communicating on Snapchat, but the truth is there are cameras and tracking devices everywhere, what does this mean for the human condition?

Is it a renaissance for thought? To quote Bob Dylan... "If my thought dreams could be seen, they'd probably put my head in a guillotine"...

Or, are we all going to become gun-shy, fearful not only of doing something illegal, but distasteful, something that will be trumpeted eons from now on our permanent record.

Oh, kids are aware of that now. They judiciously decide what to post online. It's only their tech-ignorant elders who don't know what you post can come back to haunt you.

But there's going to be pictures of you smoking dope, consorting with the enemy...

In other words, was Edward Snowden just a wake up call, too late, that not only is our government out of control, but so are we?

You may not be keeping your texts, but your mobile provider is.

Used to be you were truly alone in the wilderness. Now you can call rescue from the top of Mt. Everest.

Do we see the end of duplicity?

Or a locked down environment where everybody is fearful of their past, worried they're going to be shunted off the track?

If you raise your head, there's 24/7 documentation. I'm sure Justin Bieber didn't think egging a house would be caught on film.

Oh, that's right, there's no film anymore. Just digits. 1's and 0's, captured on storage media that becomes ever larger and ever cheaper.

My father was a fan of petty theft. He saw it as sport.

But he was also afraid of the law.

Sounds like a conundrum.

Not in the sixties, but definitely today.

Everybody knows there's a camera in the retail store. No one ever really feels free.

Or do they?


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