Devil's Advocate

What is the price you are ready to pay for your freedom? Your life?? Nah, the government is not interested. Your privacy? Looks like someone's interested over here!!! Our society is fast becoming a vigilante society. More so since we've had the 7/11s and the 26/11s of the world. The war against terror is on. Terror has permeated into our cities. Intelligence is of paramount concern today. Agencies worldwide are trying to gather greater power by all means possible. Even if it means at the cost of privacy- your, mine, ours alike. With each passing minute surveillance techniques are getting more and more sophisticated. Getting to know that spy satellites can read the time off someone's wrist watch is passe. Everyone knows about killer drones. The fact that a cellular phone is a homing device evokes no emotions. What's next?

Next is happening right now. Companies like Google are indexing the way you surf the net- an insight into your psyche. Couple it with information like your Social Security Number or a Unique ID(UID) and the terabytes of data from The Human Genome project and you have a system in place wherein your privacy goes for a toss.

But why am I creating such hoopla suddenly? The reason- The Enemy of the State. After the movie got over, one of my friend pointed out that if Social Security Number is a boon, it also is a pain in the ass. Why? Because all your social activities- right from your driving license to vehicle registration to bank account to cell phone to medical to what have you is connected to this one number. Result- a glaring vulnerability. It's akin to a double edged sword- the government can (mis)use it, so can the hackers. Watch the movie The Net to see how your identity can be stolen. Just at the click of a button.

So what shall we do? Security of a nation is necessary. So is your personal freedom and privacy. Certain rights cannot and should not be compromised to ensure freedom. What good is a freedom which keeps a tab on what is going on in your bedroom.

The gestapo is watching. There is no escape lest you, the common man is aware of your right. The Indian Establishment has already started the process. Unique ID Number is just one of the ways forward in a slew of many such steps.