Do you want to know what other people know about you?

Who is watching you? The privacy debate going on now was unearthed by the NEW YORK TIMES weeks ago. The current administration did not want folks to know that they were being spied on. However, this is not the first time in history. THE WEEK(1/27/2006;13) traces snooping back to  J. Edgar Hoover and FDR. Under President Bill Clinton a satellite system was devised that would spy on spies. Now both the National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation can easily watch or listen to you (NEWSWEEK(6/7/2004:76). That is if they are interested.

After the story broke a few weeks ago, I decided to spy on myself. I went to Goggle who at the moment is keeping the government from seeing your choices and mine on the internet and looked myself up. I found numerous publications that I had written. When I keyed in PEOPLE SEARCH, I found a site that would open numerous files on me if a paid a one time fee. Once I did that I found that I had to pay other fees to get more information. So as an average cyber challenged person. I stopped. However, the free choices provided told something about myself as others see me.

You can do the same thing.

First, there are 255 various individuals and corporations watching where I go and what I say in e-mails(key in COOKIE MONITORS.)They are reading what is being written right now. They also know my house as there is a picture of the front our home and one about 500 feet above us Those wonderful snoops know how much we make, the salary range of the neighborhood, the assessed value of our home and other behavior that I may have committed. Many things that you want private is now public.In other words, in a short time, I discovered just a little bit that others know about me.

When I talk on the phone, they are potentially there. After a good buddy of mine made an outrageous statement about the government, I quickly apologized to any potential third party

listening in.You have to be cautious because anything you say may go into some file..

If part of or all of the above is valid, why doesn't someone in government tells us what are the guidelines in speech and behavior that is illegal? I believe that if I advocate the violent overthrow of the government that is illegal. . Also in the same category is watching kids have sex. So that's all I know.

No one should worry if they have not broken the law? Right? Wrong? What is the law? Further,some would say if we found out the law, terrorists could then abuse the system. Not really. Terrorists of any intelligence speak in code and use other technological device to communicate with each other by phone or internet.

So for us in the masses, we need help. If we don't get guidelines, we don't know the boundaries. If we don't know the boundaries, we may find ourselves in trouble.

So look yourself up. Because others are doing the same thing with your private life right now..