A new piece of legislation is being considered in order to fight online predators, though the methods to quash it may be reminiscent of
1984's Big Brother.
To make a long story short, in
1984, the government (read: Big Brother), knowing what was best for the people, spent much time "spying" over them to keep them in order.
If this bill passes, internet users could expect almost the same.
The bill calls for internet records to be retained for two years of every IP address, whether business, residential, or WI-FI hotspot. The only reason why we have not seen internet user data retention like this, according to a
Wired magazine article, is because many internet companies wo
uld have to invest a LOT of money and data storage to do so.
Possibly the only entity that could do an undertaking like this, is a major country's government.
The reasoning for this bill is to protect minors from online predators, but will involve tracking the internet usage data --what sites someone has visited, how long, what things they searched for, etc-- for every internet user at a given time.
The article compares the data-mining to something similar as monitoring phone records. Many government or agents of local authorities, like the police, can obtain a record of the people any given phone number may have called, how long the call lasted, how many times they were called, when, etc... but you never really know what was said during the conversation.
This legislation would be like recording the conversation, but instead it would "record" one's online activities.
If you have thoughts on the matter, you are welcome to leave comments.
(Pictured, above: Big sister sees your pr0nz; right: Pedobear)
Thanks for all the great questions on the last episode.
