GAWD!!! I wish my wife would resign the fact that Privacy is now an illusion in this country!

[diabeticman]

I am sure some of this vent is coming from the fact my grandmother is still lingering. I am hoping she isn't in pain...

Anyways this past Friday a judge basically said that thanks to the public sector companies like Facebook and other places a person idea of privacy when it comes to NSA spying is invalid or whatever you want to say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/us/nsa-phone-surveillance-is-lawful-federal-judge-rules.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

This has my wife livid because she got rid of her facebook account years ago since she found out they where share her info.

She never signs up for store cards or gives any info to store that ask for our telephone number.

She tries to "Keep her privacy"

She has this freaking Flip phone that is trash. She constantly finding she has no signal more this past year than ever before. She won't get a smart phone or newer phone she says it may sound stupid but she would like some sense that her life isn't able to be seen simply by pressing a key stroke.

I know she's fighting a losing battle.

Another thing is that she can't figure out smart phones. I got mine and she went to look at it and ended up dialing her sister when all she was doing was trying to find my mom's number.

Can anyone recommend a smart phone that would make her comfortable AND how do I get her to just face facts that we are in a 1984 society and she just might as well accept it.

[Thinkingabout]

1. Look at the "Candid Cameras", they are everywhere, just smile and go on.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Edward Snowden says: 'A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.

(excerpt)

Snowden said George Orwell "warned us of the danger of this kind of information" in his dystopian novel, 1984.

Snowden said: "The types of collection in the book – microphones and video cameras, TVs that watch us – are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person.

"A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters; privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be."

snip

Snowden says: "The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/edward-snowden-channel-4-christmas-day-message

[femmocrat]

3. I'm a lot like your wife, I think!

I have an old cell phone that I keep in the car "in case of emergency". I never use it otherwise.

I was in a department store this week, paying by check. A young whippersnapper in front of me actually scanned something on her cell phone and got a discount! I was in awe.

Of course, that youngster probably doesn't realize that they are spying on her through her cell phone. No thanks. I like to "keep my privacy" too, as much as it is possible in these times.

[Iris]

11. that was a coupon

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Sorry, not tech savvy.

9/11: A beginning, or an ending?

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. They are more expensive, but I would recommend an iPhone.

As to her old phone not betraying her location, even hers can be tracked by simple triangulation, assuming it does not have a gps tracker. I call my phone my friendly tracking device that I even pay for.

[frazzled]

6. I know you've got to find / some kind of peace of mind

Sorry, your header about privacy being just an illusion made this song pop into my head and I couldn't get it out. I hope you find happiness with a new smart phone

As I walk this land of broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion

What becomes of the broken-hearted
Who had love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind

Maybe

[KentuckyWoman]

7. My father in law's circa 2000 Tracfone allowed police to track him.

Thank goodness it did. He has dementia and wandered off. We spent so much time pestering him to put the phone on th charger every night and carry it EVERYWHERE that even when he's out of it he still took a fully charged phone.

In this case it prolonged a life.

[astral]

8. Many of us will not 'just accept it.'

Blackberry phones offer more privacy than the run of the mill androids and apples. Not saying the NSA can't get into those too, I have yet to find the answer on that. I see nothing wrong with wanting a simple phone that is only a phone. If she wants a tablet or a computer she can have that to get online like we have been doing for years, and not take it with her when she doesn't want to use it. Smartphones are fun, but we don't all need to be glued to them.

If there is enough protest to our privacy being invaded we might be able to beat this thing. If you don't care that's your opinion, obviously not her opinion.

[diabeticman]

9. I understand those points but I'm to the point of why fight it BUT my main concern is her sfaety

her phone looses network signal in more areas lately. I am concern for her safety. I want the phone to be workable in an emergency type situation. Her job takes her to rural areas and she is on the road late at night.

[Drew Richards]

10. Check out Jitterbug simple phones big buttons user friendly

[factsarenotfair]

12. This might be of some comfort. (CREDO)

http://www.credomobile.com/mission/Progressive-Social-Change.aspx