So I wrote a bit on the Internet of things (IOT) yesterday, and my last line addressed the security issue of all this connectivity.

I think about this a lot. I love technology, but I always question what can be done with the information I am willing to share.

So is Big Brother watching us?

My answer is yes and no.

No, I don’t really think anyone is interested in my texts telling my husband to buy milk on the way home, so in that respect, I don’t think I am being watched.

But I also believe if Big Brother wanted to know I told my husband to buy milk on the way home…he could know that.

Not for nothing that a federal appeals court recently told the NSA to stop bulk collection of phone data. Read more about it here.

My advice? If you don’t want someone to know something, don’t put it in an email or in a text message. Share unicorns and rainbows on Facebook, but it is probably not the best place to rant on …about anything, if you ask me.

I worry about the generation that has grown up with this very public disclosure mindset. I am always telling my own kids they need to be more circumspect in what they are posting. Once out there? It is out there forever. And if you haven’t read them yet, stories about about public shaming and the (happy) backlash against said public shaming, something that was not even on the horizon five or ten years ago, abound.

And if you are not worried, maybe you should be. My daughter’s honors class was asked if the government should be allowed to read texts and gather that phone data. Every single student except my daughter had no problem with that.

Scary, right?