We would all love to assume that our personal privacy is just that; personal. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, many of us are aware that cyber criminals are constantly invading our private data for personal gain, but not many of us would acknowledge that our very own government utilizes these very same practices against its own people and people of the world. Shocking? Well, what rock did you just crawl out from under? This didn't happen behind our backs - this happened right before our eyes in broad daylight! Personal privacy is neither personal nor is it private. Then what is it? That's easy! It's euphemistic language at its finest - Listen to George Carlin Explain This "Soft Language" Here!. Why then do we still use the term "Personal Privacy" you ask? It's simple: People will think it still exists if we use the language. Many will remain blissfully ignorant to the fact that when we say "Personal Privacy", we are really talking about information and data that can be hacked, stolen, copied, sold, and duplicated without consequence. Welcome to the Age of BIG Data - like it or not.
What Exactly Is "Personal Privacy"?
The word Personal means: "of, relating to, or constituting personal property" according to Merriam-Webster.com. This, for the most part, is true because our data or information is ours or is of relation to. The problem is that government is no longer honoring our data or information as Personal Property any longer. Language gets tricky when we add that second term Private. What does 'private' mean? According to Merriam-Webster.com, 'privacy' is defined as "the quality or state of being apart from company or observation" and "freedom from unauthorized intrusion <one's right to privacy>".
Does anyone feel safe, secure, private, free from intrusion, or feel as if you are in control of your data and information? If you answered YES - you're wrong.
Need Proof? How much time have you got?!
