Front & Center—Does the digital age mean the end of privacy?

There has been a lot being bandied about on the subjects of government snooping in on our cellphone records and Internet usage. A whole lot of angry folks out there are plenty mad and surprised by the recent revelations. I’m not one of them. Mad? Yes. Surprised? No.

Why? Well, I hate to say this, but it has been going on for years with the approval of Congress, you and I. Ever since Sept. 11, 2001 and the Patriot Act that followed. The notion of privacy went out the door with the rise of the Internet and cellular networks.

It is true the government has been snooping, and they are going to answer for it, although I find it amusing and disturbing at the same time that the loudest voices slamming the NSA and the current administration are the same people who approved of doing it in the first place. (You know who you are senators and congressmen).

All of this was done out of fear of another attack on our soil much like 9/11, a nightmare that must never be allowed to be repeated. We demanded it of our elected leadership in those days. Now we are paying for it.

But they are not the only ones out there tracking your every move. These groups do not have a Senate oversight committee looking at them, either. They don’t have a lot of those restrictions, which is proving to be not restrictive enough in light of the scandals raging in Washington, D.C.

It happens every time you Tweet, email or make a call on that smartphone. It records every time and every site you have ever been to on the Internet. Got those groceries scanned with that discount card for the air miles? Yup. Speaking of cellphones, you do know they have locator chips built into them didn’t you? They know when you use OnStar to find your way out of Wyoming and even your cable TV usage is being tracked and tallied. Those silly or racy pictures you posted on Facebook will come back to haunt you, too.

Everything you have bought, sold or used is being tracked at this time. That is, unless you live off grid with no digital devices whatsoever, under a rock in the Antarctic. You have a record somewhere of your activities. And no, it is not just the government or space aliens doing this.

Well, then, just who are “they?”

That list is very long, but it is every company and corporation out there today, from Macy’s to Charmin toilet paper. Your every purchase, your likes and dislikes, shopping trends and much more are taken, computed and shared with other companies all to make a buck. These companies know more about you than the government does. Not to mention hackers, trolls and identity thieves, all waiting in the darkened corners of the internet to strike the unaware.

Try these on for size. Google or Bing your name and see what pops up. Disturbing is the least I can describe it. If you are on Facebook, type in a product or brand name in a casual FB post to your friends. Hit enter and watch the advertising column on the right. See what happens. You posts are being tracked.

The U.S. government has been going after terrorists following the 9/11 attacks. The efforts are claimed to help protect us, but maybe with a little too much zeal. Now that the cat is out of the bag, the public wants answers.

Our technology has outpaced our laws and notions of privacy at warp speed. We all bought into a great deal of that with each cellphone purchase, each new Internet subscription and each swipe of the credit card. So to me, it comes as no surprise that we’re being monitored. I am surprised it has taken so long for it all to blow up in our collective faces.

Before we put the U.S. government on the pillory of inquiry, we need to put all those other companies and corporations up there, too. Others invented a lot of the techniques and technologies, like data mining and facial recognition. They taught the government how to use them and visa-versa. And they also own a share in the guilt, a very large share.

As for the person who leaked this, well, that drama is ongoing. He will have to answer for the legality of his actions. He committed a crime and must stand accountable for it, in public and in court. That is, once he’s caught or does the right thing and turn himself in.

You see, it is not just about Big Brother. Big Brother has a Big Mother and a very large family to boot. The issue of privacy — however we think it was before the invention of all this tech many of us seem to love and can’t do without — has been rendered nearly extinct in the 21st century. We need to find ways to reign it all in and hopefully restore some aspects of privacy back to the average U.S. citizen. All I can say is good luck. We will all need it.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.