Knock, Knock. Who’s there? The Alphabet

The Alphabet who? “Google it.”

One day, attending middle school, I was checking out a book at the library. Opening the book flap, I recognized the name on the listed card – a school bully. An idea occurred to me. So on my next visit to the library, I visited the librarian.

“Hello, may I have a list of the books I have checked out over the years?” Of course, I didn’t really need to know and was only testing to see if she was open to the idea. At first, she seemed surprised telling me such a request was odd. I pleaded with her saying it was to demonstrate to my teacher how much extracurricular reading I was doing and obtain a better grade.

I was persistent and continued to plead. She smiled and said she’d have to charge me an administrative fee and that it may take some time (my first experience with bureaucratic red tape). Several weeks later I picked up my list and made another request.

“Hello, what is the fee for the list of books checked out by the people on this list? She of course declined my request, muttering some issues with privacy asking, “Why would you need that info?” I replied, “It’s how I think. I could read all the books in this library and gain knowledge. But, what good is having knowledge if you don’t have information and use it. I could find a way to use what the people on this list read or better still sell it as you did.”

The Librarian didn’t appear pleased giving me the “evil eye.” Was she being evil or simply profiting from a “free” government service? Seems only fitting that at the library I’ve learned information can be bought and sold. No one really owns or controls it. Besides, what better way to combat bullies than to see what they’re reading and use it against them? Was I doing wrong or right?

It didn’t take long for me to realize, I was going about this the wrong way. Instead of asking the librarian for information, why not just buy the library. That’s when I learned one doesn’t buy public agencies, only public servants. So why not build your own library? Offer the service for free. I soon realized that what one reads isn’t as valuable as what one says and to whom. Buy a Post Office? Nope, it’s also public.

Inspired by spy films, I asked myself what hand held gadget would one carry? Pen. So why not put a “bug” in a pen making sure it freely found its way into the hands of the bully.  Then one day, waiting as mother was having her hair done, I heard women sharing their life with the hair stylist (things I don’t think they shared with their husbands). It clicked! Why not befriend the stylist of the bully’s mother?

If a young girl can think of this, imagine government agencies and tech companies. Imagine the power of digitizing a library where citizens freely offer their data as they’re searching for information. Free of charge? Well, not exactly. If you want the goods on people you need to pay up. Imagine no more. Just “Google it.”

Unlike some Google engineers who reportedly need to be motivated into taking time off to innovate, I need no encouragement. I am self-motivated and inspired by the world around me round the clock.

Librarians have reportedly been one of the government’s best informants. And the tradition appears to continue.  Benjamin Huebner, CIA Privacy & Civil Liberties Officer elaborated on “…the variety of skills that you need to do what the CIA does. We hire carpenters and hair stylists and enormous number of librarians to do some of the work…” Timing is ideal as the country’s service economy is growing.

Forget about “undercover” librarians, hairstylists, and pens. Today, people are buying and bringing “smart technology” into their homes (virtual assistants, appliances, door bells, smoke alarms, thermostats….) openly giving their data away. Priceless! It appears tech companies simply want to organize the data making it more user-friendly, at a price and with your help.  

Data and Privacy? Huebner was asked, “Why public citizens in the U.S. want this right for privacy…What’s the reason that people aren’t as willing to share data…?” He replied, “It goes back to the founding of the country itself…Think about the reasons for the Revolution. It was British soldiers coming into Americans’ homes and taking information…This is literally who we are.” Right, but now it appears to be U.S. officers and agents coming into homes via tech companies.

Google’s reported acquisition of Nest included the product Nest Thermostat OS. Nest appears to also attract international customers given its reported sales.  How did they do it? If you start from the beginning, you can easily follow the “free” bread crumbs of search and email, ending up on a “yellow brick road” with appliances you “need” to get home.

Users, with this new “search technology,” careful who you bully, who does your hair, what you bring home and who you work for. Remember that “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

As the CIA Officer said, “digital space, think about that…in the context of the home, or the office, or the public forum we have like 500 years of case law in that…Social media has been around for less than 15 years. There’s a lot of work still to be done.” Congress, herein lies the problem. While the agencies rummage through centuries of law, technology speeds ahead.  

Knock, Knock. Hello Alphabet!  What’s the fee for data on the “smart” people on my list who bought your smart technology? 

The Alphabet:  Why not buy the goods from a public servant?  Well Mr. Alphabet, as the CIA Officer noted, “We also might purchase things from the private sector.”

My reply: We in the intelligence business both invest and employ tech. It pays to “know our ABCs” and CIAs.