As much as I usually doubt conspiracy theories, some announcements lead me to pause and wonder.
What I'm wondering now is perhaps the entire invention of the Internet, the World Wide Web, email, IM and everything else we now use in our daily lives wasn't all a plot hatched by Big Brother government and Big Brother Inc., to more easily monitor what we are doing, saying and just about thinking as well.
What puts me in mind of this is the upcoming announcement a sincere, but I would call misguided PR professional, sent gloating over the next version of their client's product Spector 360 from SpectorSoft.
Spector 360, says the press release, "records Web sites visited, emails sent and received, chats and instant messages, keystrokes typed, files transferred, documents printed and applications run."
Did they leave anything out? Well, the release continues.
"In addition, through a first of its kind surveillance-like camera recording tool, Spector 360 shows an exact visual detail what an employee does every step of the way."
As we get suckered into putting more and more of our lives up online in one fashion or another, it seems to me the "transparency" Web vendors are always promising users is really about making our lives transparent not our business processes.
Is this an accident or did someone hatch this idea to make surveillance easier? Easier for whom? I have no real idea. Remember this a conspiracy theory so I can just say, "for them."
When I was coming up and even into my 20s I wrote letters, made phone calls and met with folks in person. Those were my three communications choices.
That made it much harder for anyone to track me or know where I stood on any particular issue. Now, we've got software programs like the above mentioned plus cameras in the streets and GPS systems in the sky.
I don't want to sound too paranoid but if it is not a conspiracy to monitor every waking, breathing minute of our lives you have to admit if there ever was going to be one it certainly would give the conspirators a big head start.
Okay, if you are the Lawrence Livermore National Labs I can understand the need to monitor every keystroke. But if I know anything about business, Spectra 360 will more than likely end up being used by companies like Krispy Kreme Corp.
Well, if you're interested in Spector 360 go to booth 3400 at the InfoSecurity/ISC East Conference at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. The opening day is kind of ironic, September 11.
Posted by Ephraim Schwartz on August 31, 2007 01:52 PM
