I wanted to believe that if we cared and if we were smart about it, we all had the ability to at least limit the data people could acquire about us. And while we can limit the data some people can get, we can’t really stop the people with power from getting a complete profile if they want it.

To really understand the truth of the video, you need to understand that the “flux capacitor” of the Google Toilet is your IP address. So even while you may be signed out of your Google account, or browsing the internet in privacy mode, Google still has a record of every search by IP address.

And while as far as we know Google doesn’t package and sell this information, it’s certainly possible that it might do so eventually in Incognito mode.

Imagine that it starts with the FBI, the CIA, or the NSA requesting information on a suspected terrorist or an international leader suspected of aiding and abetting terrorism. Google would be doing its worldly civic duty to help the good guys stop the bad guys. But then imagine the “bad guy” is a courageous leader standing up for human rights against an abusive government or corporation. Imagine a group of political powerhouses decides to derail an opponent. How much is the data that Google has collected worth? Or maybe a multi-national corporation could pay enough cash for a little data on their competition’s top executives. And what’s stopping Google itself from using the data as leverage in the halls of power? Maybe it’s their motto: Do No Evil.

Capitalism demands maximum profits by any means legal. And who makes the laws? It’s not the government. It’s the people funding the legislators – capitalists. So it is inherent in the social system that data be mined and used to defeat competitors and maximize profits.

While the problem of privacy will continue to grow, the acknowledgment of the truth that it is an escalating problem is the first step towards finding solutions.