[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by lurker

It's very important for big corporations and Govts to know what their consumers are saying and thinking in private.

Yes I agree. SO that they can produce goods that their consumers will buy.
My point is simpler.

So you're an average joe, with a decent job, a family. You like some kinds of music and in your private time sometimes you like to look at naked women. You like X,Y and Z brands and sometimes you hunt for weird things in the internet.
So google knows. Hallelujah. So other people know too. Double hallelujah.

My point perhaps is more valid to my mental outlook towards life.
So everyone knows you like some things in life, who you're married to and what your friends are called. Umm.. so what?
Anyways, I'm not starting an argument here, my views are strictly my own. Nobody has to agree with me.

Besides, somebody may google this thread page and then the whole world will know that I don't care what they know about me.

[lurker]

I have been watching world and strategic affairs closely ever since 9/11. It seems the perfect pretext has been found to curb freedom's of people around the world.

Step-by-Step curbing of freedoms

1. Fingerprints of Index fingers for travel to US.
2. Fingerprints of 10 fingers
3. DNA of all prisoners in US prison system.
4. Biometric visa/passports required to travel to US/EU.
5. Iris Scan info on Passports
6. Chip based passports/Credit card ? (to come in future)


One by one the liberties of individuals and citizens are being curbed under guise of providing security. We are moving towards a system where we live in a giant prison. And movement from one country to another will resemble transfer of prison populations.

this is an extention of what is happening with Google which records private conversations and data.

Isn't there a saying those who do not fight for freedom do not deserve to have it or something.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Honestly, when you live an open life - a YetiLife®, these silly things don't bother you.
You could find my whole life history on Team-BHP itself, who needs google?
And who cares who knows what about you. Who really does care whose husband you are and what porn you watch?
Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to sound offensive. But who really cares? Spammers? People who want to sell you viagra?

Who are you and I anyways in this world full of billions?

I agree with tsk actually. It is the people immediately around you that you should be worried about.

Agree with your views but not completely. When one leads a honest life he/she should not be worried about people discovering dark secrets.

But it is important to me that my private life stays private. It's not that I lead a dishonest life style, I do not, but i'm kind of reserved and likes privacy.

There's one more thing, if one's life is being made public the life style of your close friends/relatives would also be brought much more nearer to the surface.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I am more worried about our newspaper wallah getting to know when we are out on vacation.
Thats more dangerous than anything google knows

I agree with tsk completely as they could pose an immediate threat.

But google knows much about what you want & like than any of your friends or relatives.


Edit:

YouTube - Master Plan - About the power of Google (ORIGINAL)

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by lurker

Isn't there a saying those who do not fight for freedom do not deserve to have it or something.

And yet how much time has been spent on the research of the personal life of Mahatma Gandhi.

[lurker]

Gandhi had his uses and he has been researched well. He made the most out of a given situation. Some people object to pacifism and blame it for our soft approach towards various issues. But I have often felt the value of Gandhi should not be studied intensively, it must be allowed to grow upon one slowly.

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by lurker

Step-by-Step curbing of freedoms

1. Fingerprints of Index fingers for travel to US.
2. Fingerprints of 10 fingers
3. DNA of all prisoners in US prison system.
4. Biometric visa/passports required to travel to US/EU.
5. Iris Scan info on Passports
6. Chip based passports/Credit card ? (to come in future)

I don't understand how my complying with any of the above would limit my "freedom". Could you please elaborate? I would gladly give my fingerprints, DNA, Iris Scan etc to govt authorities asking for it. I wouldnt care less about what they would do with it as long as I am on the right side of the law.

What I wouldn't give, is semen sample. I get very disturbed by the thought that two individuals with my exceptional charm and intelligence could roam this free earth.

[greenhorn]

There was a female at my office who said the same thing - i.e. she had nothing to hide, and I was being paranoid. I ran her name through google , and among articles of contests she took part in school, and papers which she had presented in college, and who all she had presented them with, her name turned up in a matrimonial ad ( which had been deleted) , but was accessible via google cache. Apparently it had been put there without her knowledge by her parents. The look on her face - priceless

Sometimes, google can sometimes know more about you than you do yourself

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by lurker

Gandhi had his uses and he has been researched well. He made the most out of a given situation. Some people object to pacifism and blame it for our soft approach towards various issues. But I have often felt the value of Gandhi should not be studied intensively, it must be allowed to grow upon one slowly.

While I am not offended, there are many who would object to the sentence "Gandhi had his uses"
I am not discussing the values of Gandhiji. I am merely discussing the fact that his personal life was no secret, still isn't and he fought for freedom.

I also agree with B&T - how does it constitute as a loss of freedom if your fingerprints have been catalogued?
Though I find the very thought of B&T's 47%v/w/ 100 proof semen sample very disturbing. Actually disgusting.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

I don't understand how my complying with any of the above would limit my "freedom". Could you please elaborate? I would gladly give my fingerprints, DNA, Iris Scan etc to govt authorities asking for it. I wouldnt care less about what they would do with it as long as I am on the right side of the law.

What I wouldn't give, is semen sample. I get very disturbed by the thought that two individuals with my exceptional charm and intelligence could roam this free earth.

Good point !

Sometimes people ask me simple things like which political system do you prefer. My answer always is any political system is preferable .. it is the politicians that one has to be afraid of.

|lly the problem comes when a political elite, impose a particular ideology on society and then impose curbs on freedoms of people who oppose their ideology. Then all these systems to protect me will be used against me. It is not a question of 'If' but 'When'. Unlike the citizenry, those who rule over us (not necessarily in India) have the luxury of taking an eagle's eye-view and can take the long-term vision and take actions appropriately for curbing dissent.

So tomorrow if any illegal war .. is prounced as illegal by any citizen or a group of citizens, they can be immidiately arrested and detained using the very same organs made for protecting them.

[reignofchaos]

1984 here we come . Anyone seen the EPIC 2014/2015 videos? Rather well done.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by lurker

So tomorrow if any illegal war .. is prounced as illegal by any citizen or a group of citizens, they can be immidiately arrested and detained using the very same organs made for protecting them.

Exactly, no matter how noble their intentions , what if there is a possibility that tomorrow this information may fall into the wrong hands and/or be used against you?

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by lurker

So tomorrow if any illegal war .. is prounced as illegal by any citizen or a group of citizens, they can be immidiately arrested and detained using the very same organs made for protecting them.

I would like to know what organs are made to protect me.

My father taught me that in case of any illegal war, I should protect my own organ first.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

While I am not offended, there are many who would object to the sentence "Gandhi had his uses"
I am not discussing the values of Gandhiji. I am merely discussing the fact that his personal life was no secret, still isn't and he fought for freedom.

that statement was in the mould of 'God has his uses' .. mock irreverance.

Gandhi had to portray a particular image to bring 'communities' together, and one of that was 'transparency', and that he had nothing to hide. There was a need to get out of the vortex that the Colonialists had set up. There are also people who claim that his pacifism contributed towards making the Indian psyche and the Indian state more softer and unwilling to challenge potential invaders and external aggression. This is a viewpoint held by those to the right. I have felt there needs to be a differentiation because that aspect was his unwitting contribution because Gandhi was a focused man and a man with a plan.

[greenhorn]

One thing i would like to add is that our personal information is a valuable thing. While some of us have no issues giving it out, all of us do not.

Do you fill in thouse coupons marketers give out which ask for your name , adress, phone number and email id in return for a chance to win a watch ?
I don't.

There are some who do, and some who dont.
Just because I don't mind giving up my privacy doesn't mean that i should make everyone else.

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety -Benjamin Franklin