It's more than NSA spying on us

What is the difference between the NSA capturing phone numbers and your smartphone tracking you at the mall or grocery store? Not much.

Even if you are not talking to anyone and your phone is on, corporate marketeers are “spying” on your shopping habits. MAC (media access control) knows how long you linger in the accessories aisle, shoe department, checkout line or whether you stop in front of a window display or pass it by. I wonder if you are being tracked in the restroom?

We have given up much privacy by using our computers and our smartphones. There are surveillance cameras in stores, at intersections and atop buildings. I am more afraid of the market men than of the NSA.

May I remind Mike Donohue (letter, Feb. 21), that the USA PATRIOT ACT of 2001 which led to this “spying on our own citizens” was enacted by Congress during George W. Bush’s administration and was active by Oct. 26, 2001, a mere 45 days after Sept. 11, 2001!

See the government printed booklet: Legislative History — H.R. 3162, Congressional Record, Vol.147 (2001). Also noted: The bill was considered by and passed the House on Oct. 23 and 24, and was considered and passed in the Senate on Oct. 25.

Gignac is a resident of Kalispell