M.
Richard Maxson
The
historical roots of privacy are the now well-known numerous instances
of colonial antipathy toward the British practice of general
warrants. General warrants were issued by British judges to British
agents in London in secret, and they permitted and authorized British
agents in America to search wherever they wished for whatever they
sought. Sound familiar? The textual roots of privacy have been
identified by the Supreme Court in numerous places in the
Constitution, not the least of which is the Fourth Amendment
prohibition of searches and seizures without warrants that identify
the target and that are based on the probable cause of criminal
behavior of the target.
If
the government truly derives its powers from the consent of the
governed, it must recognize that in areas of natural rights --
speech, press, worship, self-defense, travel, bodily integrity,
privacy, etc. -- no one, not even a well-intended majority, can
consent to their surrender for us. James Madison knew this when he
argued that experiments with our liberties would be the beginning of
the end of personal freedom.
Most
citizens today think of their social sites like Facebook, Twitter,
and others as expressions of their freedoms. That couldn't be
further from the truth. It is now common knowledge that Facebook is
listening to everything you say and recording it. Facebook
has admitted to this. Now, we're finding out that there's
another spy listening to everything you say. Worse, they've been
recording you for at least a year and storing it on their servers.
“Some
of the world’s most popular online services have been enlisted as
partners in the NSA’s mass surveillance programs, and technology
companies are being pressured by governments around the world to work
against their customers rather than for them,” - Edward
Snowden
You
probably didn't realize that Google keeps a record of everything you
do, including using your voice to search online. Not only that, the
company is working hand in hand with the government to install a spy
system in every home in America! Google’s
engineering director announced last year that the company hoped to
convince people to put microphones
in their ceilings to
allow easier access to the Google search engine. Similar to the
Chrome browser, the microphones would undoubtedly record on a
continual basis, allowing the data to be handed over to different
intelligence agencies who have a classified
relationship with
the company. More
on that next week.
"Senior
officials have sometimes suggested that government agencies do not
deliberately read Americans' emails, monitor their online activity or
listen to their phone calls without a warrant," "However,
the facts show that those suggestions were misleading, and that
intelligence agencies have indeed conducted warrantless searches for
Americans' communications." - Democratic
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Mark Udall of Colorado
If
this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge
in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence
community has given the government could enable it to impose total
tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back because the most
careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government,
no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the
government to know. Will Americans ever lift their heads from their phones in time to see their liberties dissolving around them before it's too late?
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