I confess that I have done a complete turnaround on this issue.
Ten years ago, I felt that privacy activists were trying to make life difficult for online businesses and were inhibiting development of powerful "personalization" technology. I saw little difference between visiting a Web site and walking into a bricks and mortar store. The word "privacy" does not appear in the Bill of Rights.
Now I fear that PCs and other devices with Web access are becoming the Telescreens depicted in George Orwell's classic dystopian novel,
1984. These devices are two-way, and they are increasingly used to gather information about us. More than most people realize.
And wouldn't you know it: as my concern grows others seem to be backing off. They don't care that their e-mail is being scanned. They don't mind storing their personal documents in the cloud. They don't mind that their location is being tracked by their mobile phone. See Declan McCullagh's
article at CNET news.
Now we really have something to worry about.
