Comments to my previous posts on this topic have included two main counter-arguments:
1. That corporate data hoarding is innocuous, where NSA's data hoarding is dangerous; and
2. That the difference is between voluntarily and involuntarily giving up our data.
Below, a response to these counter-arguments.
To the first objection: This is completely disingenuous, since NSA does not run its own infrastructure--it is entirely dependent on the corporate infrastructure to do its dirty work. We cannot simply restrict NSA--unscrupulous governments will not be deterred from finding a way around any restrictions we put on them. I am sure that those who post these counter-arguments are working for companies like Google. It is part of the misdirection they are engaged in.
But it's worse than that. Google's data hoard is not just dangerous because NSA might grab it. It is dangerous in its own right. The companies are not merely innocuous providers of free communication. They are monetizing our private information, and they do NOT have our interests in mind.
To the second objection: If everyone were properly trained in how to manage their own privacy, that would be one thing. But the companies that make all the software we use have only grudgingly provided any privacy tools, and they do nothing to make us aware of them. You have to do your own research to figure out how to use browser privacy settings.
It is remarkable that here at KOS, where most of us are worried about corporate greed corrupting our polity, where bloggers routinely take it to Big Oil and Big Pharma, we give a free pass to Google. Really? This country periodically passed laws to break up trusts and conglomerates, because we knew it was not safe for us to have a few companies own all the mines, roads, railways, factories and banks. Isn't it even more dangerous for one or two companies to own all of our data?
For a much more eloquent voice on this topic, I give you:
http://www.faz.net/...!
And for anyone stirred to try and help do something, please sign the petition at:
http://petitions.moveon.org/...
thank you.