Just a few minutes ago, I agreed that Google, or anyone Google gives access to, can use the microphone and camera on my tablet without my knowledge or consent.
You almost certainly have done the same thing.
This is a brief diary about the illusion of choice in the Surveillance State.
I'm one of those who sees Edward Snowden as a hero. I'm also one of those who took what I thought to be common sense privacy protections--not naive enough to think that I could stop a determined effort to snoop on me (how boring would that be for the snooper?), but idealistic enough to think I should as least make it a minor hassle to do so. I use a VPN and SSL. Once upon a time I used PGP, but decided that without an infrastructure dedicated to privacy, it was too much hassle. So that's a little about me.
Today I was updating a few apps and was startled by what I found when I went to update Chrome--the updates give Google the right to control your microphone and cameras at any time without your permission. Unacceptable. I'll exercise my freedome of choice, I thought. Mozilla, my old friend, here I come.
Oh, old fox, I'm disappointed.
Opera?
Et tu, Opera?
Gotta have a browser, right? So I "accepted" the Chrome agreement and now carry my little distopic electronic village with me.
So gentle reader, if we pair this with the Snowden revelations, every cell phone and tablet is an audio visual bug, pervasively insinuated into your life, with your full permission.
Is there a choice NOT to agree?
What does it mean when government and business collude to monitor us?
Are monitored people free?
No need to type a response. That look on your face and your mumbling are sufficient.
Going for a nice long bike ride. Will check back on comments in a couple hours.