1984

Orwell’s Big Brother seems to be alive and well these days. We’ve enjoyed watching Person of Interest this season, a show about a man who invented a computerized spy system to ferret out potential terrorist threats. But it also points out potential victims of violence, and he and his CIA-ish cohort take it upon themselves to circumvent these acts. The system tracks everyone via spy cams and phone calls both by land lines as well as cell phones and all similar electronic devices. It all seems a bit farfetched, doesn’t it? A little too science-fictiony, right? Wrong. It’s just been suggested by Trevor Eckhart, a security researcher, that most smart phones now have a secret software called Carrier IQ installed that can log every text message, Google search, and phone number dialed, all without the knowledge or consent of the phone user. And who gains access to this information and for what purpose? Well, I guess that would be Big Brother whose purpose could be to protect us or to subjugate us. Scary, huh? The question: At what point does the need for national security outweigh the right of personal privacy? Maybe Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, has the answer.