Surveillance of Phones

When Snowden leaked the information about the government collecting phone service data, was anyone really that surprised? Hasn't everyone already assumed this? Everything we do in the digital realm -- from surfing the Web to sending an e-mail to conducting a credit card transaction to, yes, making a phone call -- creates a data trail. And if that trail exists, chances are someone is using it -- or will be soon enough. Big data analysis works by identifying patterns and anomalies in our behavior. Nobody cares about the reasons why certain people do certain things. They only need to be able to predict the future. As those of us that had exposure to statistics, you will know that to spot the anomalies, there needs to be a good database of information. The silver lining in all of this is the fact that the transparency can go both ways. The digital trail of the government or businesses are just as transparent as the public's records. Just something to keep in mind.