Our phones are wired for surveillance. There are cameras on our streets that photograph our cars. Our social media and digital footprint tell an intimate story that is easily sold by companies.
There is an alarming lack of legislation that keeps the government away from my information. While I’m comfortable with what I’ve chosen to reveal online, much what is actually invasive is not within my control; where I spend my days, where I travel, where I shop, what I endorse or what religion I follow are all up to grabs when the government has access to my digital footprint. And while I’m a law-abiding citizen, and the government doesn’t have much reason to access my information, the fact that it’s accessible to them means that it’s accessible to hackers, and that is the danger.
Anyone intending to do harm— be it another government or just an individual—can hack into the systems that are already monitoring my information, and gain access to it. And that leads me to another scary blind spot in legislation.
There is not much beyond filing civil suits that protect me against privacy violations. This is a developing abuse—20 years ago, the internet was not like it was today, and 20 years from now the internet will look completely different. It is changing constantly, which makes current legislation hard to pass, but still necessary. Understanding more of how much of my privacy is out of my control is driving me to support and vote politicians who will pass laws that do protect me. Any way that I can regain some control is a worthwhile.
The ACLU has a number of articles on surveillance legislation that can be found here. We need to be doing more to ensure that our elected officials are guaranteeing our privacy.
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