Google is Watching You (And Uncle Sam is Jealous)

Yes, you are being spied on

I find it amusing how the left criticized Bush over fevered paranoid fantasies that he was spying on them but find nothing wrong with what the Obama Administration is doing. Yes, conservatives do the same in reverse. At least the ACLU is consistent.

Supporters of a change say social networking and similar services, which often take advantage of the tracking technologies, have transformed how people communicate over the Internet, and Obama's aides say those services can make government more transparent and increase public involvement.

Some privacy groups say the proposal amounts to a "massive" and unexplained shift in government policy. In a statement Monday, American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Michael Macleod-Ball said the move could "allow the mass collection of personal information of every user of a federal government website."(Source: WaPo-Web Tracking)

We're arguing over cookies while corporate America buys and sells our personal information.
Ever get one of those "opt out" letters? Unless you explicitly opt out, all the companies and government entities you do business with will traffic your personal information. Why doesn't Congress outlaw this? Because they profit from it most of all. Donor lists are the lifeblood of the non-stop campaign. Additionally, corporations make millions off of our information and they thank congress with political contributions.

Google knows way more about you than the federal government does. So does Yahoo and all those social networking sites. That's why they always want you to log in: So they can track your interests to more effectively sell you more crap. Nothing nefarious, it's just creepy targeted marketing down to the individual consumer.

Amazon has a digital memory that would make an elephant envious. I bought a Johnnie Paycheck CD from them back in 2001 when I was in Colombia, and I just got an e-mail from them today pitching the newly released, Johnny Paycheck - The Collection. We should outsource immigrant tracking to these guys.

Domestic spying is not a kook conspiracy; it really happens. Your moves are tracked and cataloged. Don't worry, you won't be thrown into some gulag, but you will endure the torture of being turned upside down to empty all the money from your pockets.

WaPo - Web Tracking