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Years from now (or maybe tomorrow), people will forget what privacy is or was. Why would I make such a broad statement like that? It comes down to more people not knowing where their information is going. On the heals of the whole Apple/Google location tracking debate, I started thinking again about the services that we use every day. Social Networks, Internet, email, cloud computing, video chat or conferencing, texting, etc. all goes through someone else’s server at some point. While most of the someone’s could care less about what you are doing, the data is still there and as storage gets cheaper, more of it will survive in on-line storage.

Most people expect that when you use a corporate messaging system or internet connection, that someone will or may be watching the traffic and there is no expectation of ‘privacy’ as it is currently known. I would suggest that any service that uses electronic communications (cell phone, computer, or the like) has the ability to do the same with the data that goes through their system. That ‘private’ video conference you had with your wife or girlfriend that was a bit revealing, could now be sitting on someones storage waiting to be reviewed at a later date by anyone who can gain access to it (or has a court order). Interestingly enough the telltale IP address has finally been shown as unreliable. Recently, the police raided homes of those suspected of child pornography. Only the people who were arrested had nothing to do with child pornography at all, they were only silly enough to leave their WiFi router unsecured (open). Now reasonable doubt can be shown with this iron clad identification method.

What does all this mean to you? Maybe nothing. You may not care that government agencies regularly trolls social networks looking for information, or that some unscrupulous person may have every email you have sent, or every search you have ever done. Truly, privacy is a thing of the past. Funny thing is, we gave it up willingly and we clamor for more ways to give privacy up daily.

So the next time you think about going to a questionable web site, or chat about something that you really shouldn’t, remember someone somewhere is waiting to look at what you have done. It might even be your medical insurance company…

Now before I get branded as paranoid, stop and think about it for a bit. I am not paranoid, I have worked in the industry for a long time and have seen all of this in action. I have seen things that no one should have to see (and things that no one should have done).

Location tracking has been in the news since the revelation that iOS keeps tabs on where the users are on a regular basis. While Apple is not alone in this (Android does this also), it is disturbing that they refuse to admit any wrong doing on their part. Now Apple is being sued for this, and Washington is asking questions as well. Really, no one knows how long companies have been doing this type of tracking, since most OS’s are not open to third party developers to go digging through. There have been reports that this tracking feature still works while the iPhone/iPad is powered off, since the device really isn’t powered off (unless you run the battery all the way down and do not recharge, but why would you do that) and you cannot remove the battery, additionally there is rumors that access to the device is available to retrieve this information as long as the battery has power to supply the system. My curiosity is: why are they just now figuring this out?

Really this information has been being gathered for quite a while, carriers keep track of what cell sites that you attach to for an undisclosed period of time and given a request that data will give them a picture of the subjects travels. Truly, this is just one more development that is behind getting public attention. Do you complain about the information that the grocery store gathers about you (and then sells to advertisers and credit companies)? Do you worry about the information that Google has compiled about your search and surfing habits? Or that Facebook sells advertising based on the information you post, your likes and dislikes, and any other information that you don’t think they have? Credit companies have been data mining for years and not many complain about their privacy being harmed. So why now?

Why should we be worried? Well, the information could fall into the wrong hands or already has. But that could be said for any data warehousing operation, data security is breached with more regularity and your sensitive information is then in the hands of hackers who sell it for profit (or use it for personal gain or both). You could argue that your privacy has been compromised. But I would argue that if you have ever used a credit/debit card, gotten a loan, signed a contract for services, registered a car, or paid taxes that your privacy has been compromised. This is just one more instance of data for profit. Sure you get some benefits, but are they worth it?

Don’t get me wrong, I have a phone, cars, and credit/debit cards, but I don’t have the illusion that I have any privacy.