Privacy and the WWW

There is an interesting piece by Simon Sharwood over on TheRegister.CO.UK about the fufrah about social media tracking software being marketed by Raytheon. It seems that people are becoming afraid that the Gubmint is listening to what we say on the internet and keeping track of it all. Golly gosh, who’d of thought?

If you stand on a soap box in the park and shout all day long, you have no right to complain that someone listened to what you said. The whole point of standing on that soap box and yelling is to get attention. If they pay attention, be proud; you’ve accomplished what you’ve set out to do. Don’t complain if they keep track of what you say, say it again to make sure they got it right.

If you are afraid of what the Gubmint might think about what you have to say, don’t say it where the Gubmint might listen. Say it softly in your shower late at night with the radio playing loud. Cower in the dark, afraid of the light. Just don’t complain when no one listens because they can’t hear you.

The strongest, bravest thing that a person can do is to stand out in the bright sunshine and speak the truth as you see it. Proclaim to the world what is wrong and how to correct it. You might not have any success in changing things, but at least you will have tried. The people that don’t try will never change anything.

So Raytheon, Google and the rest watch closely what I say. Spread the word far and wide; just get the URL correct. People in the Gubmint, read my words often, discuss what I think, consider what I propose. I DARE YOU.