Policy is defined as the written guidelines by which a government and its society should operate. However there ca be many times where the current policy on the books is not adequate for the modern climate. We have seen this become increasingly true with the advent of tools like social media. I do not see much changing in the favor of the people. Current laws allow social media companies to track your information plugged into their app, mine information from the device on which the app is installed, then sell that information to the highest bidder. That includes a national government. If you have ever gotten an advertisement for any form of military service, congratulations. Your information was sold by a company that is more than likely owned by Google to a federal government. The government uses social media companies to spy on you in ways that they cannot legally spy on you. However, they still conduct their own illegal surveillance on you as well as if you report them then the government will investigate itself and months later clear itself of any wrongdoing.
While there is hope for me that the right thing will be done by the Department of Justice in their hearings against Google and Facebook. I am not holding my breath. Just as people say that corporations do not care about their customers, I have very minimal faith that the politicians of the United States care about their constituents. Policy is defined as the written guidelines by which a government and its society should operate. However there ca be many times where the current policy on the books is not adequate for the modern climate. We have seen this become increasingly true with the advent of tools like social media. I do not see much changing in the favor of the people. Current laws allow social media companies to track your information plugged into their app, mine information from the device on which the app is installed, then sell that information to the highest bidder. That includes a national government. If you have ever gotten an advertisement for any form of military service, congratulations. Your information was sold by a company that is more than likely owned by Google to a federal government. The government uses social media companies to spy on you in ways that they cannot legally spy on you. However, they still conduct their own illegal surveillance on you as well as if you report them then the government will investigate itself and months later clear itself of any wrongdoing.
Not only is the current law rather lacking on the books, it is very lacking in the courts as well. Law is a very fickle thing with some of the most absurd defense options for an accused individual. Tim Parlatore told a story about his time as a lawyer in New York where he was given a case involving some base jumpers leaping from the roof of a building to base jump down into the streets of New York. The exact legal wording of the charge for base jumping in the city of New York stated that the individual is forbidden from jumping from inside a building from a height of more than forty five feet. Tim Parlatore used and won the case with the defense of, "well they did not base jump per the law, they jumped from the outside of the building not the inside." I included that story for several reasons. I think it is honestly a pretty funny story, and I think it is important to highlight how easy it can be to skirt around the law for anyone in the US. Not to mention how easy it would be for someone with the resources of Jeff Bezos.
While there is hope for me that the right thing will be done by the Department of Justice in their hearings against Google and Facebook. I am not holding my breath. Just as people say that corporations do not care about their customers, I have very minimal faith that the politicians of the United States care about their constituents. I must hold out in the hope that this cycle will be broken. The government will actually use the power of the Sherman Ant-Trust Act to break up America Inc. oops sorry, I meant Alphabet Inc. and their clear and clearly illegal monopoly is so many facets of the modern American society.
For the full Tim Parlatore story and more about him, click here
For an article on the DOJ hearing click here
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