They were lying: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, Skype, Apple, and AOL

All those companies we were told to trust — our friendly service providers who send us annoying notices about how carefully they are protecting our privacy — were lying: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube, Skype, Apple, and AOL have been engaged in a secret bargain with the government.

- Dr. Grace Vuoto

We the people have allowed a Big Brother-Internet monolith to usurp our freedom

Special to WorldTribune.com

By Grace Vuoto

For centuries, in every society around the world, citizens have by and large believed that a higher power watches their every move.

"The eyes of God see all," goes the Christian saying. Yet, for a brief moment in time, from the dawn of the widespread use of the Internet in the mid-1990s to the recent shocking revelations by whistleblower Eric Snowden, many were hoodwinked into believing that individuals could roam the public realm of the Internet, and yet it was nonetheless a private act. Suddenly, there was no one watching.

Progressives had first dispensed with God, then religion, then morality, then social conventions and at last, the Internet promised freedom from all prying eyes. For the first time in human history, one could interact with the public realm and remain anonymous. This was the pinnacle of the progressive dream of individual liberty: total freedom, no one watching and no one passing judgment. Or so it seemed.

The Internet consists of a double revolution. The first is the speed at which information can be transmitted. The second revolution is that it collapses the difference between what is public and what is private. In the privacy of one's bedroom, for example, one can now wander into the Red Light District of pornography, or the underground world of bomb-making, or indulge in gambling — and no one will know. By contrast, through Facebook, one can send a picture of a private part, a la Anthony Weiner, and everyone will know. Relatives in New York City can enjoy a wedding taking place in Tel Aviv, as they view pictures and video streams posted on social media. Colleagues can see their co-worker going on a hike on social media over the weekend. And "friends," those who used to be members of a very private and exclusive club, are now anyone at all that cares to click yes to an electronic invite.

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