We live in a world, where privacy is not a fundamental right anymore, it’s a privilege which should be cherished and worth fighting for, if one needs to take a stand.
Canadian government passed a bill (Bill C-51) establishing a so called “Secret Police” to keep an eye on everyone. They have not stopped here, they are making software developers to develop back doors into their apps and they also planning on pressurizing people to decrypt their personal data on demand that also legally.
Last week U.K. government passed a bill which is extreme of all the surveillance bills passed till date and gives them absolute power to hinder privacy of anyone. The bill was passed without much of opposition in the parliament.
It was not long back when Edward Snowden leaked documents stating U.S.A. has been spying on it own people since 9/11, recording all calls and tapping all kind of personal information of its people without any warrant in the name of national security.
Recently Germany passed a bill has been drafted by Germany’s interior ministry which will allow the government to collect data from the citizens without their knowledge, so Germans won’t be having any right to know, what kind of data is being collected.
If you are not a citizen of countries mentioned above and your government hasn’t passed such law, it’s not something to be delighted about because you never know when such law is introduced in your assembly and it will passed without much opposition before we all know it.
[button color=”white” size=”big” alignment=”center” rel=”nofollow” openin=”samewindow” url=”#”]How Government is justifying their actions ?[/button]
While passing surveillance laws most common excuse given by governments are public safety, They say if they have sufficient data they can stop the crimes before they could even happen. They say it can help in many sectors such as :
- Health – If health records were accessible to pharmaceutical companies, they can carry out their research work in better and efficient way.
- Advertisement – If advertisers knew about your choices, they will appropriate ads rather showing anything out of blue.
- Security – If security agencies can monitor day to day activities of citizens, then it can really bring down local crime rate and they can eliminate terrorist attacks from the picture.
Here, government is just trying to show people short term benefits and imprisoning everyone in the virtual prison forever, where there every step will be monitored.
[button color=”white” size=”big” alignment=”center” rel=”nofollow” openin=”samewindow” url=”#”]How Can We Stop Our Government to Pass Such Stupid Laws ?[/button]
Everyone of us know that there is not anything much that we can do, if government wishes to take away freedom of people unless everyone stands together and support the cause. There are many ways to contribute individually :
1 : Support the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
It is a non-profit organisation that supports Privacy via legislation rather than directly opposing the government for whatever they try to do. They make it sure to defend your rights in this digital world. They are not just a bogus organisation, in fact EFF have taken a stand against what was wrong and won, defeating the government.
Support the EFF if you agree with their frame of mind and share the same sentiments.
2 : Spread awareness
Spreading awareness might sound old school but it is the most effective as government is chosen by people in sovereign countries and no government want dare go against a whole country. So talk to you family and friends, and try to contribute as much as you can.
Credit for Images : Flickr
