Amid all the alarm about NSA and other government agencies spying on US citizens, we have ignored that fact that it all starts with data collection by private sector companies. First of all, if the private companies were not collecting the data, there would be nothing for NSA to look at.
But this data hoarding, largely without the consent or knowledge of most users, poses a threat to our freedom, regardless of whether NSA is using it. The very existence of such data on such a scale is a permanent risk to a free society, because there is no way to safeguard it forever. That's why I created a petition to The California State House, The California State Senate, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate, which says:
"Any company which has access to personal data of a user or customer shall be required to obtain the permission of such user or customer before collecting or storing such data. Privacy policies regarding collection of user data shall be required by law to be "opt-in", rather than "opt-out"."
Note that we are NOT demanding, as some have proposed, that companies be barred from collecting data. Only that they have to ask first!
Will you sign the petition? Click here to add your name: http://petitions.moveon.org/...
Thanks!