By Trip Elix

The active myth within society is that information is being collected just for marketing. It may completely come to a surprise to you to understand that seemingly benevolent companies are actively spying on the American public. While it is true that some of the information gathered is used in marketing, a more honest picture reveals the sale of your information to the highest bidder. Most Americans find it hard to accept that allowing this practice poses a threat to our way of life.

The Unleashed Monster

In just over two decades, the American public has come to assume and become highly reliant on the Internet for both personal and business transactions. While the Internet is an unparalleled human achievement connecting the entire planet, it is multifaceted and presents both benefits and risks. Its devices are two-way communicating machines, both capable of sending and receiving data. In spite of claims, it contains absolutely no real filters or protection with most devices working independently as both “servers” and as “clients.” As a result, computing devices and the Internet are susceptible to being manipulated by outside forces. People using these devices and website are often misled actually to participate in surrendering their personal information and generating widespread online exploitation and crime.

Criminals prey on this weakness in our technology and business practices. Online predators are in force at many levels of our lives. Individuals, corporations, and governments can all actively operate as predators, exploiting an unsuspecting public. In particular, the act of collecting information about people’s activities knows very few current boundaries. Online predators spying on our transactions has become commonplace and over time selling both obviously sensitive information as well as seemingly innocent tidbits of personal information has become economically profitable. There is a growing segment of our seemingly legitimate commercial industry involved in the marketing of customer’s personal information. Even governmental agencies can purchase our personal information from corporations. These practices have grown to the extent and degree that new industries have arisen to handle the gains from this newly found profit centers.

The government also collects mass amounts of information and transfers it to private entities to freely market. Taxpayers often pick up the cost of data collection. It redefines our civil servants and bureaucrats into dual faceted, data entry clerks. Corporate entities have blatantly overstepped the boundaries of public service, both by collecting and monetizing information given to the government.

The amount of data being captured daily by corporations has no boundaries. The government also collects mass amounts of information and transfers it to private entities for their use. Ironically (though not yet consider a crime), taxpayers often pick up the cost of data collection. Many of our civil servants and bureaucrats have been transformed into dual faceted, data entry clerks. Over time, corporate entities have blatantly overstepped the boundaries of public service by pressing our civil servants into both collecting and monetizing information we provide the government, the information we generally assume is private and legally protected.

Inside of private industry the population’s activities, habits, and personal details are analyzed. Records are examined individually and collectively. Some of the data is surmised inside of big data. Sets of information that are too large to go through traditional techniques. Identifiable information currently exists on over 295 Million Americans, both adults, and children. Global the numbers are only slightly higher, in our own country, it is done well outside of government oversight. It seems spying has no limits and everything or anything is collected.

Governments throughout the world are actively spying on American citizens.

The world is aware of the power of information. In the recent past, the cold war spy networks transformed from singular points of information to a global grab for intelligence. Even now, the United States government purchases information from corporations and so do many foreign governments. Today governments throughout the world actively spy on American citizens. Often the use of the information is more sinister than perceived. The adage “information is power” has found new avenues since the founding of the internet. In the global marketplace, possessing vast amounts of information on our citizens yields an advantage to our international rivals, including our enemies. Personal profiles that include every minute detail of existence have no real purpose outside of exploitation and profit. The “credit score” serves as an example of societal manipulation at a global scale. While parts of the information collected by the credit system are regulated, much of it is not and is given over by corporations for sale on a remarkably open market. Our personal technology, the various and growing number of electronic devices that we carry around only help to gather our personal information. Many American and foreign companies produce applications for the cell phone market that track the information that we provide. Beyond, traditional phones own carrier, a new generation of commercially mainstream and as well as black market applications have vastly more capacity to collect our personal information. Cell phone data has more information than just call and text patterns, unpublished numbers present as well. While your perception of your life may not be peculiarly interesting to you, others might disagree.

Moreover, the information gathered may not be about you. You may share information about someone you believe is interesting or perhaps an important colleague or client at work. You might know an emergency responder or military personnel and update others about their activities or just their location. If you’re an engineer or scientist, the online market is interested in the smallest hint regarding trade secrets. There is no limit to who and what knowledge the modern information marketers will exploit. Beyond identity theft, information marketers can use segments of personal information to piece together profiles to use in threatening and intimidating individuals, companies, even governmental agencies. The spy trade has joined information marketers, accumulated knowledge is fast becoming a political tool.

While downloading privacy applications to your devices may seem appealing, it is wiser to remove access by uninstalling applications that communicate with outside countries. There are a few free applications for security that work on cell phone platforms. Some of these applications are placed into the marketplace by the same industries that track and sell our movements.

Those that claim not to care about privacy are the most selfish of our society. Securing our nation is not just the governments responsibility. After all its doing nothing right now to protect your information.

Android users can download lost firewall from the google play store to disclose where apps communicate.

Iphone users can download Firewall IP from the apple store.

Any application that is not U.S. based may just be another collector for a foreign counties spy network.