“Parade” magazine – my information source

I just began reading an article entitled “Is Anything Private Anymore?” Just reading the title made me have to run to the bathroom. As I was sitting there, I scanned the ceiling and walls for anyplace through which someone could be observing me or filming me with a Webcam or whatever it is they use. And if they were, would it be on the internet before I was even off the toilet? It was very unsettling and caused me to hurry up with what I was doing. I may have to go back.

The article tells of a man in San Francisco who hid his smoking habit by smoking on the street outside his office. Well, that didn’t last long for him. An online mapping service that provides ground-level photographs caught him smoking, and if that weren’t bad enough, Google’s Street View project caught him smoking again. It’s safe to say that when we’re out in public, someone will capture us on some type of camera and our picture will be available to millions around the world in a manner of seconds . . . all this thanks to our wonderful internet. My daughter is moving back to Manhattan and I’ll be visiting her from time to time. I used to love walking around Greenwich Village and those parts when she lived there before, but now I’ll have to be very careful when I walk the streets, so to speak. I’m sure the city is drowning in many types of surveillance, so that means I should never smoke on the street, adjust my panties, pick my nose, keep my legs together when I sit at street cafes, be sure to wear panties . . . there are too many things to mention that I might do, but won’t do now if I can remember.

Our privacy is a thing of the past. There is facial recognition and we are routinely being recorded by security cameras. During the 2001 Super Bowl, fans were scanned by cameras linked to facial-recognition software. The purpose was to find suspected terrorists, but it’s a chilling thought to think that we are being scanned anyplace, anytime.

Another chilling fact is that our personal information is now available to almost anyone in the world. When I call for help with my TV or maybe my computer, I may get someone in China whom I can barely understand. And she may want my address, and possibly a credit card number and who knows what else. I don’t like giving out any information, but sometimes it’s impossible to get around it. All these companies sell our information to other companies, so everyone knows everything about us. We are all in a giant database somewhere, and the thought of that makes me extremely uncomfortable.

But what I’d like to know is with all this frenzy about security in this country and being watched all the time, why haven’t they put some of their efforts into finding Osama bin Laden? When I say “they,” I mean George Bush. When he said “Mission Accomplished,” what in the hell was he talking about? I thought bin Laden was the mission. But then, what do I know? I’m too busy trying to keep myself from being scanned.