Suddenly hordes of people are becoming upset over the latest technological advancement, soon to be implemented by Facebook, that will allow for facial recognition of its members. They worry that this is the beginning of something bad, something invasive, something Big Brother-ish, although I can't for the life of me figure out why. To avoid having yourself spied upon, known about, traced, tracked, hunted down and robo-called, take two simple steps: First, stay off of Facebook. Second, leave the planet.
At birth, you are fingerprinted and foot-printed and issued a certificate--I know, not Obama, but everyone else--and you damn well better know where it is at all times. You are inoculated and vaccinated and weighed and measured and enrolled in preschool and nursery school and elementary school and high school and college and the Army or the Air Force or the Navy or get a job with the government or in private industry. You buy health insurance and house insurance and flood insurance and life insurance and you travel on trains, planes and automobiles, passport in hand, each and every time giving away your most personal information. Driver's license, social security number. Age, weight, height, blood type, urine specimens, stool samples. Dental x-rays, arrest record, misdemeanors, driving infractions.
We give it all willingly to anyone who asks, whether we're buying beer, renting a car, applying to college or taking out a mortgage. Heck, at the end there's even a death certificate to be filled out: case closed! And now the 20-somethings behind the screen at Facebook will be able to see your picture and know who you are. Big deal. Seems to me we have much bigger fish to fry--and to fear.
Apparently people haven't yet heard the word "surveillance society."
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