Time to step back from the Internet PRISM

There's something nasty at work with U.S.'s PRISM program, which creates a snapshot -- or "file" if you will -- by tracking the Internet activity of people on main Internet sites. Think Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, all rolled into one giant profile about you.

This comes at a time when the U.S. does not need bad PR as it rights relationships with countries worldwide. I'm sure they are monitoring this blog entry as well, but hopefully it'll track back to my fellow writer, Venus, who owns this blog. I'm a pretty innocent dude, you know, nice guy and all.

Being a journalist, I can't opine on the topic. But I always felt some big brother activity happening somewhere, so PRISM is barely a surprise. So what now?

Step back from the Internet. Get back to the good old ways. Read books, send snail mail. Meet people, drink pints in a bar, just make sure to check for hidden cameras or microphones on a table. Or try trickery -- write about earthquakes and global warming on Facebook, and the U.S. government will accuse you of pissing off Mother Nature.

I haven't posted much on Facebook anyways, less now. It may become a barren wasteland, like a derelict high-school hang-out with some old memories stuck to it. I'll post pictures to keep the U.S. government busy. On Gmail I'll invite more spam to throw off the info-collecting spies. And the U.S. government is stupid if they are mining Myspace.

But the U.S. already has competition. My grumpy neighbor, an old lady who is a life-long New Yorker, knows more about me (she listens to my phone conversations through a thin wall.) I'm sure she'll rat out my ex-girlfriends, breakups, fight with parents, man love for kabaddi and other dirty little secrets to the US watchmen.

But there's more to PRISM than Google search, Facebook or Gmail. Firefox, IE or Chrome browsers are collecting info and sending it somewhere. Programs like PRISM are not going away, so you either live with it, or not.

Happy surfing, and remember, someone already knows you. So stop being a hermit holed up in a cave near Mansarovar searching for world peace.

Cross posted on Thine Explorer