Andrew Nimick Point Concept twitter.com/andrewnim

From http://ostatic.com Stallman, known for years of opposition to proprietary software, and creator of the GNU operating system, tells Network World:

'I don't have a cell phone. I won't carry a cell phone. It's Stalin's dream. Cell phones are tools of Big Brother. I'm not going to carry a tracking device that records where I go all the time, and I'm not going to carry a surveillance device that can be turned on to eavesdrop.”

This is something I have been concerned about for some time, you may have noticed the number of my posts which discuss privacy.

We now blindly provide the kind of tracking information which the Stazi once dreamed of having on every comrade of the Democratic Republic of Germany. But in digital easy to search form, not paper.

Like mad scientist's some developers and companies are forging forward creating new uses for mobile technology without stopping to ponder some of the civil, moral or private issues which arise.

I would like to think that we as users can monitor and direct these matters. But sadly history tells us a very different story.

Few of us (me included) will take Stallman's approach. The trade off does not work for us.

So my post is for those who are interested, if you are like me, you will work out the pros and cons. You will take care what you leave where and remember that some things are private and some things are public. You will also try to convince your kids that this is true for them as well.