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Well, I have to admit, I was a little surprised at Google’s announcement today regarding the release of their Public DNS system. My initial thoughts were:
1) WOW! This is very interesting in an exciting where will technology take us next sort of way!
2) YIKES! This is scary in a huge monopoly, big brother we’re all going to become Google minions and be sucked into the Matrix sort of way.
3) How soon can I implement this to see if it works?!
Now, I know there are many people who are smacking their foreheads right now saying, You silly girl. You’re playing right into their hands. Your privacy has been stripped from you and you are already a minion! Shame on you!
To that I say simply, I know. By choosing to live on the grid in an industrialized nation I have traded my privacy for the conveniences of living a life with all the 1984 trappings.
Let’s be real here… by choosing to connect to the internet, create a Facebook account, own a cell phone, a credit card, and a bank account I assume I am being watched (no, not in a paranoid they’re out to get me sort of way – just in a practical you’re on the grid sort of way… … .. .the argument of what’s the difference is fodder for several more blog entries so I’ll leave it for now).
In reference to this quote from David Coursey in his PC World article, “Google Public DNS: Wonderful Freebie or Big New Menace,”
“The downside is that Google’s Public DNS will also give the Internet giant an unparalleled look what people are doing on the Internet. It will, for example, be able to log every DNS request made by every user of its system. If that doesn’t frighten you at least a little, it perhaps ought to.”
I would argue that if you’ve been using Google as a search engine over the past few years, every DNS request you’ve ever made has already been logged.
Further, if you are one of the anti-Google purists who refuses to use Google for anything and instead use Yahoo!, Bing, AOL, or some other search engine I would argue that the same is true, every site you have visited has been itemized and catalogued in a neat cyber-file with your name on it.
Folks, when I step out the front door of my house into the public domain of my city, I can see all the cameras at every intersection watching what I do.
Likewise, the internet is public. When a DNS request leaves the door of my router out into the public domain of 1s and 0s, I assume that everything I do is being watched.
Reasonable expectation of privacy as defined by law states that if someone is walking down the sidewalk in front of my house and my blinds are wide open, it is perfectly reasonable to assume that if that person glances over and looks in my window he will see whatever is going on and so what? Don’t cry about it later.
It is not, however, reasonable to assume that said person will climb the nearest tree with binoculars and peer into my second floor windows whether the blinds are drawn or not.
Similarly, the debate between technological advances vs reasonable expectation of privacy will continue. Some time ago, my friend Michael Jones posted this question on Facebook:
“Do you think a business and/or colleges should be allowed to check a person’s facebook site before admission/hiring???“
This was my reply:
“Whether they should or shouldn’t is irrelevant, because the fact is they do. Further, there are some occupations where one is inherently held to a higher standard such as various law enforcement professions and teachers.
Yes, what you do in your spare time IS your business, but if you’re engaging in certain behaviors and choose to make it public on FB, MySpace, Twitter etc., then be prepared for the consequences.
Law enforcement, colleges, and prospective employers are all very active on social networking sites, and that’s not likely to change.
Net neutrality means we have the freedom to post just about anything we want, but it also means others are allowed to view the public forum and formulate opinions about our character.“
We can argue forever if what we do in public should be watched and catalogued, or not. But the bottom line is, you can assume that it is. And if this makes you uncomfortable, you know what to do…. Unplug.
By the way, for anyone wondering… I implemented the DNS changes on both my iPhone and Mac G5. Simple, completed in seconds and has worked well all day. So far so good!