2009 Or 1984?
 

It seems to me that every week something else appears which takes away some more of our public freedom. Last week it was Face Identification in schools; a month before that it was announced there could be a change in the Law, so that if you bought a new mobile phone they would log your details in such a way that they could trace your every move. I have received loads of surveys from Local Govt, the NHS - you name it; they all want to know stuff that's none of their business anyway. Am I getting paranoid or do the new breed of Signs that are appearing at road junctions have cameras fitted? The words "Nanny State" conjure up something safe and comforting. I don't think so..

Um... no one I'm aware of ever uses the term "nanny state" in a positive way. But it's usually used to describe things like welfare, not things like video surveillance.

This bugs the **** out of me. Same with the idea that they can use your phone to hear everything you say at any time. The information age is scary, and will only get worse.

i don't get why people get so worked up about this.

does the fact that drugs are illegal stop people from using or abusing them? (simplest example)

it's not like the laws are hidden or modified to suit the situation. if you know that 'they' can listen to 'everything' you say on the phone then don't use the phone for what's common knowledge as being illegal. otherwise who cares? so there's a backup of you trying to pickup and getting shot down. so what?

you don't HAVE to adhere to the law, but being cognitive of what those laws are and how they're enforced makes it significantly simpler to circumvent them.

face recognition in schools. kind of out there, but how many corporations have biometric scanners to read fingerprints? mine isn't exactly the top of the tech pile but i scan my thumb at least 4 times a day.

basically it boils down to this - 'they' aren't after you unless you've got something significant to hide or are causing 'them' major distress.

also, don't fool yourself into believing you won't eventually grow old and become 'the man' too. you might not ever see yourself in that light but you can't force other people's perspectives.

It amazes me everyone is trying to draw the 1984 comparisons now. Welcome to the post-9/11 world; the government has been spying on you for years.

As technology increases it becomes more and more relevant.

As far as I can tell people have been making 1984 comparisons for the past 60 years, ever since the book was written.

I've just seen a recent influx in people making the comparisons on the news and the internet the past few months and I don't understand why.

Way to edit out the second sentence. I'll spell it out for everyone.

THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN LISTENING TO YOUR PHONE CALLS, READING YOUR INTERNET LOGS AND LETTERS, AND ARRESTING PEOPLE WITHOUT TRIAL ALL IN THE NAME OF THE WAR ON TERROR FOR YEARS NOW. THIS IS NOTHING NEW. PEOPLE NEED TO STOP MAKING STATEMENTS GOING "OMGS! DID YOU KNOW THEY CAN TRACK OUR CELLPHONES AND LISTEN TO OUR CALLS?" ITS NOT NEWS.

they should call it olds.

word