Time to wake up and smell the coffee... and trust me, the coffee isn't a cup you want to drink. (Or maybe you've already developed a taste for this brew...)
Now, anyone who has been awake in this country for the last eight years must certainly know that there's no privacy on the Web, or even in e-mail. Even our most banal phone conversations are being intercepted and checked for "trigger" words. (I've gotten to the point that I say hi to the NSA whenever I make a politically loaded comment on the phone to one of my kids. Trust me, I do.)
Turns out, the President began warrentless wiretaps on most of the phones in America because, horror of horrors, with the advent of fiber optics those conversations could no longer be picked out of the air. (Hint, that means they were listening at will already.)
And you expect to ever have privacy on the web? Our phones are already "protected" by law, but that isn't stopping them. It never stopped them.
And it goes far beyond that. The IRS has access to all your bank records. Somewhere in the recesses of your memory, you know that. You certainly know that any transaction over $10,000 dollars is reported. (Hey, whatever you do, don't use your savings to buy that car. Use credit. They really, really want you to use credit. That way they know everything you are doing. Duh.) You may even know that if your bank suspects you of "unusual" activity, they have to report you to the Department of Homeland Security.
Uh-oh. What does that mean? Well, let me tell you what happened to a convent in my vicinity. In the tiny town of St. Leo, FL, where the only industries are a monastery, a convent, a Catholic University, two golf courses and a huge bunch of retirees, Wachovia bank froze an account and reported it to Homeland Security because the account signatory (not the account owner, but the authorized signatory) had no social security number or photo on file. When the checks started to bounce...
The Sisters of the Holy Name showed up at the bank to ask what was wrong with their account.
Now I could see how that might happen in a large city. Or even a larger town. But in St. Leo, anyone who doesn't know who the Sisters of the Holy Name are must be living in sensory deprivation chamber.
Back in the days of COINTELPRO, my phone was tapped. It was a shared phone, they were after my roommate not me, but hey, it's all the same. Back then a tap was obvious. Everyone had to call through twice to make the connection. And you could hear the difference on the line. I learned to recognize it when I was a teen and someone had the operator check my home line because I'd been on the phone too long with a friend and he needed to talk to my dad. You could hear it then.
These days what do you get? Listen to the ring. The first ring breaks, then the ringing starts again. The intercept takes place in that little "break."
What am I trying to say? Privacy is a myth. Once you step out your front door, pick up your phone, or get online, it's gone. And no law is going to give it back. Every one of those privacy statements you get every year from your bank, your phone company, your credit card company, your doctor and your pharmacist has a little clause in it that says you don't have any privacy at all if the government says they need to look for "reasons of national security."
Would I like to see privacy on the Web? Sure. Of course I would. But I'm not deluded enough to believe we'll ever really have it. And I'll give you the legal argument against it: When you step out into public, you have no privacy. CCTV can record you on the streets and in stores. Your transactions are recorded, often you're asked for name, address and even phone number if you try to use cash, a cop can stop you for no reason at all and ask for ID. (Hey, isn't that private if no one has any reason to suspect you of anything? No.) If he decides that he has "reasonably articulable suspicion of criminal activity" he can perform a "protective search", i.e. he can pat you down. In a car? He has to ask to look in your trunk, but if you say no you might have to wait while he brings out the drug-sniffing dogs.
When you step onto the internet, you are stepping into a public space, just as if you step out onto the street. That's the argument, and sadly, these are court-established standards. Step into this forum, and you take your risks.
And, hey, if you want your political opinions to be private, what are you doing writing here anyway?