Folks, we don't have any privacy.
The United States National Security Agency has had access to the content of our phone calls, emails, text messages, internet search histories--everything--since 2007 through a program called PRISM. The Guardian first reported the existence of PRISM as it was the recipient of leaked documents showing the program's existence. It has been confirmed today by government officials.
All of us (and I) have been aware that the I.T. revolution has made us vulnerable. I have again considered getting a pre-paid phone, which I used to have for communication with China, to provide some insulation against folks like those at PRISM. We know that the internet is not secure. Most professional-related emails have long contained warnings that the content is subject to public records laws. This tiny blog has been the subject of attacks from China. It is, or was, I don't know, censored there. I assume now all of my emails to and from China have been read by PRISM-types--in the PRC and the US. I have known that Google and Blogger can see everything I write here, whether or not it's published. So, if I write in an exasperated draft that I never publish "FUCK THE NSA, PRISM, the United States government, President Obama and the Chinese government," that could be read...Sorry, got a little exasperated there. Most of us were shocked when we learned during the first Egypt protests that Hosni Mubarak could unplug Egypt from the internet. President Obama has that same power in America: to unplug the internet!
This is the most demoralizing revelation I can remember. Americans have no privacy.
