It’s been in the news everywhere, and on both sides of the pond,  you really can’t escape it… Big Brother is spying on us. He’s reading our Facebook posts, our tweets, our comments on blogs, he’s checking every website one visits, and probably stealing that amazing chili recipe to boot. He’s listening in to our Skype conversations with toothpicks in his eyes, trying to stay awake before boredom destroys him.  I can just imagine Big Brother reading my stuff and groaning, someone remind me why I am doing this? Big Brother in America is passing on information to Big Brother in London. Sharing in the family goes a long way.

User big brother 1984 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We live in a world that is not safe. It never has been and sadly, I don’t believe ever will.  Years ago an editor at the Times, reminded me, never ever write something on the internet that you don’t want to see splattered on the front page of the Times tomorrow morning. Good advice. Just wish my life was that exciting.

In England we have security camera’s everywhere. My first experience with those little eyes in the sky, was when I was wandering through a shopping area late one Sunday afternoon. A group of lads zoomed by me on noisy skateboards. Not fun. Then I heard a man through a speaker, barking out, Skateboards are not permitted. The lads jumped off. We were being watched and I was glad of it.

We all want the protection and with it  that promised sense of security, we have to pay the price. That price is not very different from before, if you speak it, you must own it. If you have nothing to hide, then what is the worry? No one is going to shout out to the world that you dyed your hair last Friday night instead of going out, you gained a pound, you forgot to buy milk. Who cares, it’s not that important, but conversations about grooming girls for sex, blowing up places, I really hope, no… I pray that they are listening and actually doing something about it.

I used to oppose all this loss of privacy,  but I have come to the conclusion no one is really that interested in what I do, or say, to have me that worried. That’s hurts. Is that a fear we all share?

“How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive?”  George Orwell 1984

English: George Orwell in Hampstead On the corner of Pond Street and South End Road, opposite the Royal Free Hospital. The bookshop has long gone. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We blast the most mundane bits about our lives on the internet these days, so what is it that bothers one when you know someone not planned is listening in? Why do we feel so violated? Perhaps the only person who really cares will be an anthropologist a thousand years from now, and even they will have to sift though miles of pointless posts and tweets.

But of course there is the darker side of things. We just have to remember the blacklists in Hollywood and the relentless accusations of the McCarthy era to know privacy is something we must protect. So, what are your feelings about Big Brother and internet security?

Privacy is it something to worry about, or have we already lost it?

Update: Just found out my bestest friend has checked comments on my blog. Talk about a spymaster Mrs. H!!! So there you go, no where are we private anymore!