The number of dangers we could face in a post-disaster world is innumerable. Part of the problem is that we don’t really know what that world will look like. While there are certain things we can surmise, based upon past disasters, we may very well be wrong. Did anyone actually foresee a global pandemic play out the way that COVID-19 has?
While the disaster itself will obviously be dangerous, perhaps the biggest dangers any of us face aren’t from nature or whatever force might create the disaster, but from other people. Specifically, the most dangerous groups will be those who gather together in gangs in order to seek out supplies, even if they have to steal them and the government. While the government may not take care of us, they will always take care of themselves.
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Considering the direction our nation has been going, a nationwide disaster could be just the situation some politicians and bureaucrats have been waiting for, so that they could increase the power of the police state over our lives. The first step in that process is knowing everything there is to know about everyone, keeping track of where they are and what they’re doing.
As we heard from Edward Snowden, the government, specifically the NSA, is already working hard to track down every bit of electronic data about all of us, creating dossiers that might be used in any future investigation. While there are those who say “if you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s nothing to worry about,” the government’s definition of “wrong” is subject to change.
Today there are those who are calling expressing a conservative viewpoint a “hate crime” and trying to prosecute those who dare to publicly express those opinions.
Our only safety is to do the best we can to ensure that the government can’t track us. That may actually be impossible, but even so, there’s no reason to give them information about us on a silver platter. The less we let them have, the less they can use against us.
Here are a few key ways that we are being tracked today and what we can do about it.
Social Media
If someone in the government wanted to come up with a way to get all of us to give them all our personal information, all they would have had to do is create social media.
When you sign up for any social media platform, the first thing they do is have you create a profile. With many people, you can learn just about anything you want to about them, just from reading what they’ve posted there.
If that wasn’t bad enough, social media is all about letting others know what’s going on in your life. People post everything from family photos to vacation plans.
They openly let others know what’s going on in their lives, forgetting that there are many more eyes seeing that, than they expect.
It’s safe to say that the government has agreements with all the social media platforms, allowing them to tap in and learn anything they can. That’s not too surprising, considering employers can do that as part of the hiring process.
The best way to prevent the government from learning about you on social media is to not use it at all. They can even glean information about you from the things you follow and read. That’s not all that hard, as Facebook regularly data mines for that kind of information, so that they can use it for selling advertising space on their platform.
Electronic Communications
As I already mentioned, the NSA is recording every bit of electronic communications, of every type, in the world.
While they may not have any interest in you today, that could change at any time. All it would take is for someone in DHS to decide that preppers were dangerous and had to be controlled, and every record of your communications would be examined by some nameless bureaucrat, looking to find something you’ve done wrong.
We can’t do anything about the information which has already been gathered about us, but we can do something about what we do in the future. Basically, all we have to do is stop using electronic communications to keep in touch with others. Instead of using text messages, e-mail and phones, we could actually talk to others face to face and send snail mail.
Our Phones are Tracking Us
Our smartphones are smarter than we are, especially when it comes to tracking us.
Having a built-in GPS is handy; especially when you’re trying to find that restaurant you want to go to. But in order to give us that capability, the phone is constantly tracking our comings and goings. If you don’t believe me, just check your timeline on Google Maps or the Apple equivalent for an iPhone.
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Supposedly we can turn off that feature, but I wonder how true that is. Perhaps we can turn off our ability to see where we’ve been, but that doesn’t mean that the phone isn’t still tracking us and reporting that information to Google or whoever else might have an interest. The only way we can be sure that our phone isn’t tracking us is to take out the battery (not possible with most modern phones) or buy one that doesn’t have GPS.
Shopping
Another source of information that’s being used to track us is our shopping.
Have you ever searched for something online, then a few minutes later seen an ad for that very thing show up in your Facebook feed or in an online article you’re reading? That’s not by accident.
It’s a given that Facebook and Google are tracking our every keystroke, hoping to capitalize on those advertising dollars. But the question is; who else is doing the same? That’s something that we just don’t know, as nobody is being forthright and transparent about such things. All we know for sure is that it’s happening.
Then there are our purchases. Have you noticed how society is moving away from cash and more into using credit and debit cards? COVID-19 has really pushed that; especially with the supposed coin shortage.
