The digital era has been a great one. The transition from an offline world to one where everything is interconnected and within our reach has unleashed human potential like nothing else before.
Just imagine if computers, smartphones or the internet were not invented. Can you imagine what your life would look like today? It's pretty unimaginable, right? Such has been their effect.
But every piece of technology is a double-edged sword. It provides us with great benefits and makes our lives more convenient than ever. But it also brings with it new challenges. Some are so dangerous that they end up becoming curses.
The same is happening (or basically has already happened), with the digital life we lead. To get the convenience, we have sacrificed our privacy and security.
US To Become A Surveillance State
When this topic comes up, I am always reminded of that one quote, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Throughout the world, governments are becoming more and more powerful by the day.
Since most of our lives are online, we basically lead lives that are no more private or secure. The governments have all our data and can do with it what they seem fit. The same goes for private corporations as well.
Recently, two new provisions were tacked on to the Patriot Act in the US. One of these would allow the FBI to collect any American's web browsing and search history. The other one would allow the Attorney General of the US, William Barr, to be able to look at all intelligence gathered by the FBI.
Just reading that out makes you mad, doesn't it? I mean, the audacity of the government to reach further and further into our private lives is evil at this point. No other word can define it except the word "evil".
Sure, they can give any number of reasons for wanting to have this power. They can say "terrorism", "safety of citizens", "prevention of crime" or any other things to justify this. However, we all know that all they want is more power. And in the information age that we live in, data is power.
If this blatant abuse of power keeps on going, the entire world can quickly become a surveillance world. Privacy, rights, security, and other things we value so much would become things of the past. We surely are moving towards dystopian society folks!!