So you have been supporting BushCo and the Republicans like the good corporate citizen that you are. Or maybe you have just been staying out of the fray, preferring not to get involved politically so that you may not upset potential customers. Or maybe even you are a lifelong Democrat and you have been bucking the system because you feel it is the right thing to do. Either way, you may also believe that the whole wiretapping fiasco has little to do with you, after all, your not some leftwing veggie eating, gay loving, peaceniking group. I would submit that you have more to worry about than those groups.
Follow me after the fold...
After the President admitted to illegal wire tapping American Citizens in their domestic communications on Saturday, you may be tempted to believe that at worst, some left wing wacko groups which make your job so much more difficult are just getting a thorn in their side. Maybe a couple of peaceniks are having a tough time getting on an airplane or applying for a credit card or getting harassed by the IRS. So it is no skin off your back. But if you are intellectually honest with yourself, you will realize that the only real reason why the administration would want to skirt the very user-friendly law for wiretapping is precisely to go after political targets with no oversight. And that spells big trouble for you, Corporate America.
Because these surveillances are extra-legal and are monitoring groups which really have no connection to terror or national security, what is to stop this administration from monitoring your trade secrets, supply chain and financial transactions? Imagine if this administration had all of your supply prices, your business contracts and your officers' confidential e-mail at their finger tips. A conversation from Karl Rove may go something like this:
"That's a really nice supply chain you have there. It would be a shame if:"
- One of your competitive suppliers was suddenly harassed by customs/IRS/homeland security.
- One of your competitors was typed off to your pricing agreements or that supplier that gives you a competitive advantage.
- Your local newspaper learns about your proclivity for German Porn.
- Your salaries were made available to the local union rep.
- Your sensitive corporate strategy e-mails should suddenly become public.
- Etc., etc., etc.
In short, once this information is illegally obtained by those with political power, those who are supposed to enforce the law, it could be used against you, and there is very little you could do about it. Hey, your competitor gave $100k to the RNC last year; can we put you down for $250k? Hey, you really need to get your employees to back oil drilling in the Arctic National Wild Life Refuge, can we count on 1000 hand written letters from you? Or if you are a Democratic supporter, they could simply be funneling this information to your competitors without even bothering to extort you.
There is a reason why there is due process in handling information. It is so that there is oversight in the way that information is handled and that it is not used for nefarious purposes. This is exactly what the Framers of the Constitution had in mind. If your sensitive information is channeled directly to the office of the President and bypasses any court oversight, what is to prevent them from using this information against you for political purposes? If you still believe that this administration would never do that, then what about the next administration? Information privacy is not a personal issue; it also affects the institutions that those individuals are part of.