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People throughout history have had a need for various goods, and historically people had to set sail on the high seas and be gone for months at a time in order to bring supplies back to their colonies or towns. Then, merchants set up shops within the towns themselves, bringing the goods closer to those who would purchase them. The Pony Express, FedEx, the United States Postal Service – all of these can bring your purchases to you, and you don’t have to go anywhere. Fast forward to today, in the age of instant gratification, Amazon Go promises to deliver your goods to you within hours of your online purchase. Not only do you not have to go any further than your couch – heck, you don’t even have to get out of bed! –now, you can order that new Xbox game and be playing it, still on your couch, a few hours later.

Instant Gratification – Or Instant Intrusion?

While this instant gratification is surely a convenience, what other implications does it have? If you never have to go anywhere for anything, could it eventually negate the need for vehicles? Without the need for a  car, you wouldn’t have the need for fuel. Then the need for oil would disappear, world financial systems could collapse. Perhaps that is not at the forefront of your worries. Too far-fetched?

But, is the idea that someone – or something – could come to your home a little more disquieting than you’ve perhaps given thought to?Or, what about Amazon’s new store, Amazon Go, that doesn’t have any registers or cashiers? If you don’t have an Amazon account, an alarm will sound when you walk through the gates at the front door. You can’t shop here. How do the gates know whether or not you have an Amazon account? You have to have the Amazon app installed on your phone, and your phone had better be with you. Think about that for a moment. Those gates at the front door have the capability to view your phone’s internal information, your Amazon account information, and charge your purchases to your account as you walk back out through the gates. If those gates can do all that, what else can they see on your phone? Does that pose a significant threat to your privacy? What about that of national security? These ideas, while they may seem far-fetched, are not that far from the truth.

Every Move You Make…

And what about those drones? They won’t just be dropping off your merchandise. They are equipped with video recording in an effort to extract more information about you by utilizing everything the video captures – what type of car is in your driveway, what condition it’s in, how your yard looks and if you have a garden, right down to how you are dressed when you receive your package. Then, prepare yourself for the next time you get online and see all of the new ad recommendations: Do you need a new car? Are you looking for a gardening class? Hey, check out Macy’s sale on pajamas!

There is definitely technology in play here that, without proper reins, could certainly get hold of information that you might not want public. Time to clean up your phone’s photo gallery. OPTOFF!

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