How well are you known? Are you important for the government and its agencies? Does society at large care about you? There is a way to find the answer to these and many other privacy concerns.
Your Social Security Number is only the tip of the iceberg in the arsenal of tools the government has for control.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 exposed our vulnerability to foreign threats and the world as we knew it has completely changed. The USA responded beefing up security in all fronts, public places, borders, and airports. The Patriot Act was enacted to legally allow authorities to tap telephone, e-mail, and social network accounts from persons of interest. There was an immediate outcry from citizens who said this was too intrusive and feared the loss of their freedom.
There is always someone watching behind security cameras almost everywhere in urban areas, so don't be surprised if you get a traffic ticket in your mailbox two weeks after you ran a stop light during rush hour.
Satellites and GPS can pinpoint anyone’s position in the planet with a cell phone on them with perfect accuracy. We have personal profiles with banks, employers, associations, and social networks that are accessible to Uncle Sam at any given time. Shall you be concern? Here are the cold facts:
The last census indicates that a population in excess of 311 million lives in the land of the Dollar Bill. A person has to be a high profile criminal, large corporation executive, or religious leader for the FBI to follow their moves. They don't have time to listen to the irrelevant conversations of average people.
Society pays attention to every move or word from celebrities, professional sports athletes and politicians. Just Like Ms. Jolie, my neighbor is having a baby and except for her small circle of friends and family no-one cares about her.
The average Jane or Joe can post anything scandalous in the social networks and no TV reporters will be waiting outside their residence for an interview. You need to invest a lot of time and effort to produce something very good in order to gain a little notoriety, but don’t expect the paparazzi to follow you anytime soon. Brilliant scientists, writers, architects, or doctors have a decent base of fans and unless we win the Nobel Prize, the amount of our followers pales in comparison to those who are portrayed everyday in the mass media.
Type your name on Google search to find out what the world knows about you. Unless you have a unique name, chances are you will find many others with higher credentials than you. You may also find a message saying "Join Facebook to connect with Jane Doe." Or "Join John Doe professional network in Linkedin." Or no results at all.
Want to find out if you are truly important for society at large? Create your blog, website, or fan page and see how many followers you get and how fast. You will find very soon how ferocious the competition is and how indifferent the world can be unless you excel in your profession or commit a horrible crime.
Most of the privacy concerns are unfounded. Stop living in the shadows and come out to the world, you have a life to live. For the vast majority of people it is a small group of friends, family, and co-workers who's opinion may count in their limited world.
In my experience as an author it took me a lifetime or writing, three books, heavy advertisement, daily updates in social networks, a blog, aggressive marketing campaigns, social events, and much more to be honored with a base of around 1000 readers in my website, professional, and social media. As a writer I am a public person who encourages comments, opinions, questions, and communication. I am an open book to everyone, people know me and greet me in the streets and you can find about my work and persona in Google or Yahoo. I have not lost my privacy, because I have nothing to hide.
You have nothing to fear! Next time you see a camera, don't worry. The righteous people have not lost their freedom, give the observers a smile and keep it till our next communication.
Author Ingrid I. Holm-Garibay
