Personally, I do not mind if the government has access to my personal data. To a certain extent, I believe the “if you’ve done nothing wrong you shouldn’t fear the government” motto. I am not into any terrorist plots and I most probably will never be. The fact that my groceries may be monitored is also more or less irrelevant to me. I do not buy industrial size cleaning products and cough medicine. The government may find out that I like to buy tampons and diet orange soda, this is not a issue to me. However, if the government began to change its agenda, which happens quite often, I may begin to care whether or not my actions are being monitored. Surveillance teamed with an overzealous and conservative government may become an issue to me. Like in the movie V for Vendetta, random houses are monitored and people are arrested for being gay or non Christian. This I would have a problem with. But for now, since the government is surveying us to “keep us safe from the terrorists” I don’t mind. For example, a few weeks ago, terrorists with explosives hidden in water bottles were caught. If no precautions were taken, many innocent lives could have been lost. So, like most things, I think government monitoring is ok to a certain degree.
Companies separate from the government collecting personal data is not as “ok” with me. In class when Mr. Brooks showed us that you could find someone’s location by simply searching their phone number, I was alarmed. Personal safety becomes an issue. For example, a girl in class shared that one of her friends was attacked and robbed because of this particular search feature on the internet. I think it is very wrong for search engines to reveal such personal information. Because of security reasons I tend not to give out my social security number or credit card numbers unless I’m obligated to (USF). Yes, the line between a trustworthy site and a non trust worthy site is hard to draw, but it has to be done. This is why more and more credit card companies now offer fraud protection etc.
Although I am not comfortable with the idea of companies on the internet collecting my information, I do not mind when sites like Amazon.com tracks the products I buy. The suggested items on the homepage are often interesting to look at. I do not feel obligated to buy them, but sometimes the lists show something I am interested in buying. Yes, this is the company’s way of persuading me to send more money, but why else would I be on a shopping site?