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by Rev. Keith Gordon
06.01.97
of World War Two and its horrors, George Orwell created the fictional world of Oceania in his futuristic novel 1984. Ruled by a totalitarian dictatorship inspired in reality by Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, citizens of Oceania were watched over by a not-so-benevolent "Big Brother." Privacy did not exist, as every resident was monitored, twenty-four hours a day, by video cameras in their home and workplace.
These days, 1984 is taught in high schools across the country as a classic of satirical literature. Although much has been made of the fact that, in real life, the year 1984 has come and gone without the sort of governmental abuse illustrated by Orwell, we nonetheless live in oppressive times. The usually unsaid fact is that the British scribe hit closer to the bull's eye than he (or any of us) could have ever thought.
Orwell's only literary crime is that he lacked imagination...but then, in the forties, who could have created the sci-fi future we're living in during the nineties? Infrared sensors, high-resolution video cameras, worldwide computer networks, wireless cell phones and modems-- industry's high-tech achievements have questionably enabled better security and communication, but these same techno-gadgets have also allowed for greater corporate and governmental surveillance of the citizenry.
Each and every day, in a thousand different ways, your personal privacy and security is being threatened. No, not by hopped-up crankheads knocking down your front door - "home invasions" (the media's current "crime du jour") are just as likely to be performed by black-clad government agents as they are by garden-variety criminals - but rather by your boss, your neighborhood grocery store or your bank. To retain a modicum of privacy for you and your family, you've got to constantly look back over your shoulder to see who is watching you.
AT HOME
America spends far too much money on home security without ever thinking about securing their homes. Sure, an alarm system, barred windows and expensive locks will deter the casual intruder, but the determined interloper (like the IRS) uses lawyers and subpoenas to break down the gate to your castle. There are countless ways they'll use to track you and assemble the information they need. Fortunately, a few simple security measures will help make the New World Order’s job a little tougher.
Simple - don't receive mail at your home address. If you're on a cash basis for expenses and use money orders to pay bills (see below), you'll receive little in tile way of postal deliveries, anyway. Arrange to receive small amounts of mail at a friend or relative's address or get a secure box to handle deliveries.
A post office box will provide partial security, but since the postal service is a governmental agency, privacy is not 100% insured. They do ask for your actual home address when applying for a box, using a picture I.D. as proof, and often verify it through your neighborhood branch. A quick trick to fixing this situation is to move with-out entering a "change of address" form. The post office seldom attempts to keep up with your current address, providing another layer of security. As long as you keep the box rent paid every six months, they could care less. Get a box on the other side of town, separating yourself geographically from your mail.
Avoid those franchise mail centers that you'll find in malls and strip centers. They're all so afraid of upsetting the apple cart that they require more identification than the regular post office. Most of them don't offer twenty-four hour access to your mail (important if you'd like to avoid crowds) as do regular post offices. They'll roll over quicker than a friendly dog, providing any junior G-man with a tin shield access to their records and your mail. Used by various con-men and scam-artists for their games, they attract more law enforcement observation than any of us would enjoy.
Speaking of "change of address" forms, forget them. Utility companies, banks and such provide a place on their monthly mailings to enter a change of address. Magazines often have a small form or an address to mail a change to as well. The post office computerizes COA records, renting the lists to various businesses and organizations. Anybody with a couple of bucks in their pockets (i.e. investigators, skip tracers) can ask for and receive your new address. Finally, if you absolutely must secure your mail, use a mail drop or combination of two or three in a chain to create layers between you and the sender and/or recipient.
PHONE
When first setting up phone service, provide a fictitious name, or that of a dead relative. You may have to put up a small deposit, but once you've established credit with your local Ma Bell, you can get a phone under your assumed name anv where in the country. This tactic enables you to escape the various databases that collect and collate information based on phone numbers. Nobody will be able to pull up the Switchboard web site and look up your phone number (and thus, your address). It won't eliminate those pesky sales calls - only getting rid of your phone will do that. For total telephonic privacy, do without a phone in your home. Use the phone at work (if it's not monitored - see below) or hoof it to a pay phone.
It should go without saying that you never, ever talk about anything on the phone that you don't want anybody outside of the person on the other end to hear. This rule goes double for cordless phones (low-powered radio transmitters) and triple for cell phones (high-powered radio transmitters). What the hell do you have a cell phone for, anyway? Cellular service providers require an invasive credit check before giving you the phone, and monitor usage every step of the way to "ensure security." You don't need it.
UTILITIES & SUCH
Short of going off the grid entirely, you'll have to deal with the electric company or the gas company. You're seldom able to use a pseudonym with any of these folks, so your best bet is to use some sort of variation on your name. Middle names are good for this, as are a combination of initials. It's not much of a buffer but it can create confusion among information brokers ("No, I'm not John Jay Smith, I'm Jay Smith"). Forget about cable teevee, satellite fees or any other "pay-to-play" services. The companies offering them are marketing monsters, sucking up information on your personal preferences for resale.
Finally, take a tip from our canine pals and don't shit where you sleep. If you're involved in community activism, keep your home life separate from your public work, if possible. Take steps to buffer yourself from the reality of the streets. And if you've just got to play any sort of criminal games (and I don't want to know about it if you are), do it as far away from the home front as possible.
AT WORK
It is estimated that over 30 million Americans are currently under surveillance by their employers, a number that is sure to go up as the weeks and months roll by. Nearly 70% of the country's major employers perform drug testing on their employees, and many companies regularly monitor employee’s phone calls, computers and even their workspaces via closed-circuit television.
