Out of control?

The Lenovo Superfish fiasco and this latest round of NSA sypware makes me wonder how safe you actually are

OK. I admit it. I am a control freak.

Those that know me might be a little bit surprised at that admission. NOT.

I hate flying, would rather drive than be a passenger, and tend to rebel at any sort of authority.

Now I have those confessions out the way, I find myself thinking back to the good old days before technology took over our lives.

Hacking was something those in the horsey world did out on their ponies, and security was limited to just making sure your house/car was kept locked. There were no mobiles, people had to interact face-to-face to do their banking, pay bills etc etc.

Post was delivered physically on a daily basis, and all your news was broken in a daily newspaper or on the three terrestrial TV stations we had.

Of course, there were rogue postmen who for some reason hoarded mail, or opened birthday cards, but the majority were trustworthy, honest people who delivered everything you needed on time.

Fast-forward to now.

Everything you do relies on technology in some way or another. You cannot imagine work without email and the internet. You are lost if your server goes down, even for a few minutes. Your smartphone is your lifeline not only to friends and family, but it is where you do your banking, pay bills and apply for all manner of things.

You think you are in control of all your devices. But in reality you are not at all. The government (and whoever else wants to) knows everything about you, from your shopping habits, to your phone calls and your personal life thanks to Facebook. There really is no such thing as privacy. Unless you are a hermit.

When it was revealed that Lenovo, which has been enjoying a run of success recently, for some reason decided to include 'Superfish' adware on its consumer laptops, I couldn't believe its naivety for one.

Who in their right mind, would be happy with some pre-loaded random programme on their new laptop - pre-empting their shopping activities, trawling through their personal information or just being downright unhelpful by making suggestions at every turn? What were they thinking? Where was that information actually going?

Of course it just gave ammunition to those harbouring concerns over the prospect of a Chinese vendor selling to western consumers.

The reasons for doing so may well have been innocent, but seriously Lenovo, why?

And this brings me to the other major security story doing the rounds at the moment - the whole NSA (National Security Agency) spyware saga - which alleges that the US government is implanting spyware on hard drives for 'surveillance' purposes.

The scale of this activity is not yet known, and of course the NSA claims it is well within the law - but I for one, find it scary that there is not much you can do these days without someone being able to listen in, spy on, or find out what you have been up to.

We have all (me included) willingly signed up to everything, bought the latest gadgets and marvelled at what it lets us all do, but it is only when you stop and think how much you have let strangers into your life, it is pretty worrying. It is too late to turn back - now you just have to go with the flow and accept what is to come.

Technology of course has enriched our lives beyond measure and I will be always grateful for the advancements in medical science it has brought, but on the otherhand I truly believe it has ruined them too.

And this is only the beginning.