Political Animals – Featuring an All-Nude Cast!
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you got that one pegged right, Spike…..hugs
Thanks. I think I said recently that it really concerns me at how little the public has reacted to this eavesdropping story.
And it strikes me as odd that the same people who say the Constitution can’t be interpreted with the mores of the day are saying that “9/11 changed everything” with regard to 4th Amendment protections.
I was subpoenaed in a trademark infringement case (against a major film studio) once and was required to turn over ALL my research materials, correspondance, emails, lists of books used (and books themselves), notes, etc. connected to my work (and “creative process”) on one of the books being cited in the lawsuit. This included online chat transcripts (which I had kept for reference) that included some rather personal and private commentary (and colorful language) about the difficulties we were having with another writer on the project, plus a lot of side-tracks into totally irrelevant nonsense that meant nothing to anyone but those involved in the conversation. I was, however, permitted to “redact” irrelevant personal stuff — block it totally out of the transcript with a little note as to why it was being cut out — a choice NOT given to wiretap targets, obviously. So there was still some protection of personal privacy offered to us, even in a legal proceeding we had no choice about being made part of. I ended up redacting very little (mostly to protect a third person’s privacy who had no conneection to the book at all).
I confess the idea of some corporate lawyer having to read all that stuff was a bit amusing at the time — but I’ll tell you, ever since then I’ve been MUCH more aware of what I write in email and online boards, and what I keep on my hard drive or in other files.
But until you’ve had that experience, the thought of someone listening in on your phone calls, reading your emails or eavesdropping on what goes on inside your home or office when the door is closed simply doesn’t occur to you. We have had guarantees of privacy for so long in this country, we take it for granted.
And yet our privacy isn’t all that guaranteed. Identity theft is a huge problem, and you wouldn’t believe what kinds of personal details are available about you online for a relatively nominal fee — you don’t even need a private investigator to learn a LOT about someone else’s personal and financial history, if you have a few key bits of info to start with. It’s only in the last few years that credit card receipts no longer print the whole number, or that various companies who found it so convenient to use your social security number to track you by have started going to other methods to protect privacy. Employers can (and sometimes do) monitor employee computer use, including their emails and what websites they visit.
I worry that the outcry over how privacy has been violated will come too late — when too much has been lost, when people finally realize just how little privacy they have. When it finally hits THEM personally — when it’s not happening to “some activist somewhere” but to THEM. And then it will be too late.
Oh. Forgot to say: Nice one, Spike! Ouch.