Erstellt am: 7. 10. 2013 - 11:41 Uhr

Today's Webtip: Online Surveillance

it's not just for the NSA.

One of the common responses to stories of online surveillance and data mining is "I don't have anything to hide. Why should I worry?"

Which, as annoying as it is, makes a certain amount of sense. People who don't think they are doing anything illegal or problematic probably have a really hard time feeling any kind of sympathy for the usual collection of terrorists, pedophiles and hackers that usually get paraded in front of us to drum up support for these programs.

Just don't do stupid stuff and you should be fine, right?

Or, if you just can't refrain from a little offline stupidity, just don't brag about it online. (Which, technically, still falls under the don't do stupid stuff rule.)

The thing is, surveillance is a big business, and the number and types of individuals or groups who might have an interest in your online/offline antics just seems to be growing.

For an eye-opening look at examples of stupidity as well as the way it is being tracked by others, you might want to check out nbcnews.com.

The story is about surveillance in the land of the free, where data privacy is viewed a bit differently than it is here, but sometimes I can't avoid the feeling that stupidity is contagious.