I was in the grocery store thinking about a presentation I had made the day before.  I was scanning my shopping club card, watching my discounts tally when it occurred to me my personal information is being collected.  With every increase in technology the chances of our personal information being contravened becomes greater.

                Tuesday afternoon I spoke to a group in response to the Verizon-Obama controversy and in the past two weeks have done a handful of interviews.  As I state to reporters, I stay far from politics and refuse to answer political questions.  With that being said, I believe we renounce privacy whenever we implement technology.

                For years I’ve always had a handful of club cards attached to my keychain.  Though they’re large and impractical, I fall prey to the misconception they save me money.  The simple reality is they’re used to gather information about shopping habits.  In other words, I bought hummus, pita bread, and three frozen entrees.  Computers at the grocery store analyze my purchasing habits based on an algorithm and print coupons accordingly.

                In-car navigation systems manufactured and purchased with automobiles are notorious privacy tracking devices.  Somewhere in the service contract of most devices is verbiage to the effect that users’ location, speed, and mileage will be monitored.  Additionally, you may find wording in your contract which states the manufacturer has the ability to do the same after cancellation.

                Phone companies have been collecting dialing habits for years.  My last company was an import/export business which necessitated international calls.  One afternoon I received a phone call from a sales representative who reiterated phone numbers I had dialed.  Thinking nothing of it, I signed on for new services only later learning he worked for a separate organization.

                All bets are off surfing the web.  Internet service providers have been tracking and monitoring internet usage for a very long time.  In recent history, one provider was accused of playing big brother and scolded specific users based on personal traffic.  Tracking cookies installed by some websites are very common and allow their creators to not only see your browsing history, but some malicious cookies redeem personal information and send it back to the creator. 

                You might as well sign all rights to privacy when you sign into your favorite search engine.  Major search engines gather information with the provisions they’re collecting data to better serve users.  In reality, the reason for the data is so they can target user specific advertisements and content.  Search providers are infamous for selling information related to search history and surfing habits to third parties.  Keep in mind most search providers also provide e-mail and other online utilities from which data is also mined.

                My bank recently sent me a lengthy list of terms in response to settling a class action lawsuit.  Within the statement was some very confusing and obfuscated language which stated they can basically sell or provide my information to anyone at their discretion.  At first read it sounded like only the bank and companies owned by the bank would receive my information.  After a second pass I discerned they will sell or provide information to just about any company.

                The characterization of privacy seems to have changed over the years to reflect the current technology paradigm.  Rights to privacy diminish as we adopt technology and its manifestations.  Moreover, technology exposes users in a voyeuristic manner and allows anyone with power to peer into our personal lives.   Unfortunately the only way to combat this is to renounce advancements and return to primitive ways.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner.  You can text him directly at (978) 413-2840 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)