The Bill's Truck Parts story confirms that these mechanisms for privacy violation have their origin in commercial activity. Much of the profit inherent in internet business comes from the trade in customer information; not just addresses, but likes, dislikes, preferences and consumer behavior. And those with that information not only use it for their own marketing advantage, they also trade it for money.

The mechanisms for acquiring and communicating this data not only are a nuisance and a violation of privacy, it also sets up an array of backdoors and pathways which not only generate marketing revenue, but are a commodity in themselves. This is how outfits like FB make money. Its nothing personal, its just business. But more important, they create an infrastructure that can be exploited by criminals, vandals, rogue government bureaucracies and even foreign espionage organizations.

And as these data links proliferate and interconnect, even people who do not participate in these activities or utilize these services find themselves on lists and targeted by marketers, scammers and other criminals. Have you been following the Wells Fargo scandal?

The computer/comtech is a Frankenstein Monster, not because it can run our lives and enslave us directly as in the film "Colossus, The Forbin Project", but because it creates a new utility and communications medium which is impossible for us to live without, and yet makes us increasingly vulnerable to all sorts crime, theft, vandalism, fraud and abuse. And it is rapidly becoming a battlefield where future wars may be decided.

Call me a Luddite if you like, but its time we pulled the plug on this beast. I'm starting to think that maybe the "malicious hacker" may be our last chance at freedom.