Wouldn't it be nice to be anonymous?

[Cyrano]

Google's new GPS tracking system is just the latest "innovation" available to those who want it (on a voluntary basis). But the government, (or anyone else with a few nice high-tech toys) has the ability to track you anytime, using the exact same technology, on an involuntary basis.

I'm wondering how long it will be before every infant has a GPS chip embedded in him/her at birth.

And exactly when did our social security numbers become the equivalent of national IDs. Every doctor or medical facility, government agency, and many others we deal with demand it.

And then there's a tracking device called your credit card. The company that issued it to you knows more about you than you can remember about yourself. Have you tried to check into a hotel, or buy an airline ticket, without a credit card? The instant that card is run, many government agencies know exactly where you are.

So how do you drop off the grid? Become homeless, travel only by Greyhound, never use a credit card, never seek medical help, keep a lot of cash under your mattress, or in the cardboard box you may be sleeping in.

Being anonymous in America today is virtually impossible. Forget the question, "would you give up freedom for security?" It's already been answered.

Anonymity is/was one of the greatest factors in our right to be left alone. And it's perhaps one of the key freedoms that make the rest of our freedoms possible. Does anyone really believe that we haven't already lost our right to anonymity?

[Life Long Dem]

1. No. I want to be heard loud and clear!

[Cyrano]

7. Being "heard loud and clear" has nothing to do with anonymity.

Just ask Clark Kent, or Bruce Wayne,

[wyldwolf]

2. forget it Mr. Bob Cooperman of 2145 Elmhurst Lane, Kalamazoo, MI!

[TlalocW]

3. I would settle for not being...

Like Mr E. R. Bradshaw of Napier Court, Black Lion Road, SE 14 who cannot be seen.

TlalocE

[NightWatcher]

4. I'm not dropping off the grid, but the grid is leaving me

I have let my credit get down so that to most corporations I do not matter. Once you are not an "economically viable consumer" the corporations forget about you. Big Brother is a corporate monster that the government will lease from time to time. If they dont care about you, you will become invisible. Keep your needs few and your expenditures fewer. When I travel, I use cash, drive, and stay at campgrounds and cheaper hotels that enjoy cash. I use Walmart for reloadable debit cards with a Visa logo. I carry prepaid cell phones when I dont want to be tracked. I trully believe that the underground economy will grow and people without credit cards will be able to survive by using cash in ever-increasing numbers. I live in the South where a lot of people never trusted the government and never will play by their rules. "Damned revenuers" my grandfather used to say whenever he referenced any government employee, is the mantra being chanted by more and more people.

There is a certain freedom in hitting rock bottom.

[Cyrano]

9. Yep, the tactics you mentioned will help to keep you off the grid.

But why should anyone, anywhere, anytime have to resort to such tactics to remain anonymous?

What it comes down to is that you really have to work to simply be left alone by government and corporations.

Anyhow, your tactics really will work if you manage to not hit the lotto, inherit a lot of money, or attain some economic security through other means. The instant any of these things happen, you're right in the govt./corporate cross hairs.

[dbonds]

10. If this become too prevalent, ...

there will be reports of a deadly virus that is being transmitted on cash. Everyone that touches it gets it.

[nichomachus]

5. There never was real anonymity

except for a few cases.

There is a big difference between privacy and anonymity. They are not the same.

I lived in a small town, as most people did until a few decades ago. Believe me, the people in that town didn't need no GPS or RFID chips to know where you went, what you did, or anything else about you.

[ipfilter]

6. Hah, the NSA has nothing on a snoopy neighbor

with a pair of binoculars and a telephone.

[-..__...]

8. Abner... Abner!!!

They're posting on that Liberal website again!!!

[pipi_k]

11. And let's not forget

Moms...

the original tracking device, with eyes in the backs of their heads...

no matter how old their kids are.