Reading the Dec. 10 Columbian online story “Tech firms vie to protect personal data, profits,” about all the high-tech companies belly-aching about the federal government snooping on our Internet and phone activities, just about made me vomit. It made me feel like I was a kid again, and a couple of bullies were fighting over who gets the opportunity to beat me up.
Why in the world should I trust a bunch of greedy corporations to not misuse my personal information any more than the federal government will? In fact, these corporations have already shown a willingness to sell my personal information to whomever will pay for it — between reading email content, location tracking, purchasing histories, call logging.
I am the one who should decide and get compensated for the usage of my personal information.
End-user license agreements that require me to sign away all my rights to my personal information should be outlawed. But with the way laws are being made and courts are ruling these days, corporations now have more rights and privileges than us mere flesh-and-blood citizens. I am not holding my “real” breath for any recompense from or legal restraints against these corporate bullies, but one thing is certain, I don’t trust them either.
