I See You....

I am being followed.

I am pretty sure it's not my imagination either. It happens every time I log on-line. I see it at almost every webpage. It doesn't even try to hide it's spying ways. It's right there, right there in front of me with it's big "f" on a blue square.

Facebook is following me. Even when I am not logged into facebook, there it is. Taunting me, suggesting to me, that I tell the world where I have been.

Like a link, suggest a website, tell the fb world I read an article. It's there constantly just a click away wanting to spy on me and let the world join in.

It makes me nervous. I makes me think that fb already knows where I have been, no matter if I have logged in or not.

Do a websearch. Suddenly you find all kinds of ads on your facebook wall for those very things you searched for. Visit a webpage, find that ad for that webpage on your fb wall. It's getting kinda creepy.

The whole world is getting kinda creepy. It's starting to feel less and less private. You can't make a move without someone knowing about it.

Your cellphone keeps track of you. Your computer keeps track of you. The government keeps track of you, and I can only see it getting worse. I am starting to understand more and more why some people want to go off grid. Not because they are extremist, but because they want to be able to have privacy in their own home. Because they want to step outside and not worry that if they fall down, a dozen cellphones will be whipped out and a picture taken of you and uploaded to Youtube before someone even considers reaching a hand out to help you back up.

Let's face it, our privacy has become a way of entertainment. The world is agog with curiosity of what people are doing. It's in our face every day in newspapers, magazines, on the tv. Such and such had a baby. So and so bought a big fancy residence. Horror of all horrors, a certain someone was spotted out on the town with another certain someone going to dinner.

Privacy is becoming a thing of the past, it's no longer respected. By the media, the government, or your very neighbors.

I have complained about my neighbors before. I don't like them. I haven't since the day they moved in. And it's not because they don't keep their yard up. They do, they have a very nice yard. It's not because they throw wild parties, they don't. They have been known to yell at each other a time or two, but nothing that most married coupled don't do on occasion. I don't like them because they are nosey.

They make sad, pathetic attempts to pretend they are doing something while rubbernecking over my way. They move to other parts of their yard to get a better vantage point. They will get in their vehicle and drive around the block if they can't see well enough. I am not the only object of their interest, they spy on their other neighbor as well. They are not retired. They have things to occupy their time. But their greatest interest seems to be knowing what the rest of the world is doing. Something that even after a lot of time, doesn't' seem to help in squelching their interests. They are as nosy today as they were the day they moved in several years ago. There is nothing I can do about it either, other than to put in a taller fence, which I consider often..really, really often.

I read an article that had a video of a kid that was home alone and 3 burglars broke in and he was under the bed on the phone with 911. Poor brave kid. The article and video of the actual 911 call thankfully ended well. But two things ran thru my head when I first watched and listened to that video. First, why in the heck was a little kid left home alone even if the parents were going to be gone a few minutes? Secondly, why are we privy to anyone's 911 calls?

I think that is an invasion of privacy. How is it that our 911 calls can be posted and made public to anyone? I think they should remain private. What possible reason could there be to make them public to the news media, other than to be for entertainment curiosity? I can understand them being used in court to solidify a court case, but really..do the rest of us need to know how scared someone was? How petrified and alone they felt? I don't think so, but that is my opinion.

I believe it was just last year, that there was a big controversy about a rental chain that had installed spy ware on their rented out computers. The computers literally took pics of the users. They were being spied on by video, far beyond just the computer's stored history. Boy, that really makes you think.

Computers that spy on you. Cellphones that track your every movement. Government drones that patrol your airspace. Telemarketers that routinely dial your home phone to find out when you are there or not. It seems like privacy lines are being crossed constantly.

Some will argue that if you have nothing to hide, there should be no problem. I don't think I have anything to hide. Well anything to hide of importance. I would prefer the world didn't know every article I read on line. I read my local paper, I read about the weather on weather.com, I read the blogs, check my e-mail, some days check my horoscope. I even (whispers) read dear Abby when I am bored. It's not just something I feel the need to announce to the world though.

I want to be able to visit Walmart and not be afraid that I end up on the People of Walmart webpage. It's not that I go out in public looking like a derelict, but there are days when I have to make a run to the store. Days where I feel and look like crap and don't want to see a pic of me with bloodshot eyes, post nasal drip, and raccoon eyes because my mascara ran from all my sneezing and watery eyes.

I want to be able to go out in public and not be afraid to trip and fall and the rest of the world knowing about my clumsiness. I want to be able to search on-line for pink razzle dazzle sparkley sneakers without the internet thinking I am an 8 year old kid. I want to be able to step out in my backyard without feeling beady eyes watching every step I take with the string trimmer.

I want to be able to feel free to be me without feeling self-conscious when I do something stupid. I want the security of knowing that my life is not an open book for everyone. I want the world to back off a little. I want a little privacy. It's beginning to seem like it is an awful lot to ask.