Remember The Matrix

I remember back in the 70's hearing a rumor that Iranian intelligence agents were intercepting letters sent by suspected anti-Shah students abroad and using steam to unstick and open the envelopes. I was shocked! How dare they?

Remember Watergate? Americans were shocked when it was discovered Nixon's men had tried to wiretap the telephone lines of political rivals.

What about the time when the US Supreme Court had to decide if the police were allowed to search people's trash bins for evidence?

Look how far we have come. We should be in shock and awe with the recent leaks uncovering NSA's surveillance of communications and internet activity of virtually the entire population of the planet. But are we?

It's too scary to contemplate the scale of it all. And it's not just one agency in the US. There are many others gathering vast information from citizens, companies and governments. So are the British, the Chinese, the Israelis, and the Islamic Republic, of course. Basically all the spy agencies in the world are busy at it.

The excuse is national security. The need to combat terrorism. But at what expense? Zero privacy for all in order to spot a few rotten apples (the US claims fewer than 300 phone numbers were probed in 2012)? The ordinary citizen has nothing to fear if not involved in criminal activity. But that is beside the point. We have a fundamental natural right to be left alone and should be guaranteed that we are not being spied upon in any shape or form unless there's sufficient reason otherwise.

I fear it's too late. It's way too easy to snoop on people and too little resistance against it. Just remember this: scientists are gaining access to our brain's data base. Our thoughts and memory will no longer be ours alone. That would have many legitimate applications, including medical ones. But don't doubt for a second that intelligence agencies will be using this technology as well. It isn't unimaginable that in 20 years or less the brain activity of every human being would be stored and monitored. To combat terrorists, of course :)

Remember The Matrix.