Agreed. There was a Glenn Beck fan who was threatening to kill Democrats for voting for the ACA.

He left a ton of filthy-mouthed, voice mails to them and their staff, threatening them, their families, etc. Finally he got arrested after an investigation showed he had means. He thought that blocking his Caller ID meant he really was anonymous. It is to laugh! All calls are recorded as far as the numbers involved and stored, to be retrieved within a short time span before they are deleted. They are kept is for billing purposes, not because a drooling corporate or government employee gets off on it. Could it be misused - of course it could. But we volunteered for that and a lot more.

We AGREE to this when we sign up for a service, and we freely GIVE our most important information. One IP or phone search easily connects to a computer's OS and active programs being run, street address, name and thus to billing. From there the social security number, credit files and all of that are available.

I don't get upset about these reports because they are the tip of the iceberg. And the cams on the computers? And when does the computer go offline? And even the ability to listen to the sound inside a room, via the the input mike on the phone or computer? Don't get me started, LOL!

What is technically possible will be done, has been done since the 1950's.

We live more in a technocracy than anything else. And millions of Americans make good money creating and maintaining the infrastructure for this, and think they're very clever. Not going to talk them out of it.

IMO, it's not about patriotism, doing good or evil, it's a paycheck. Mankind, not only Americans, love all of the ways that we use technology. It's hyped to us and we love it. What I think of this is irrelevant, we have voted for this by purchasing these things.

The problem is not just a weirdo at the NSA collecting data. It's all the data mining social networks, those for corpoations, the traceable gadgets we use, and our addiction to corporate entertainment.

I was reading a while back how Comcast kept record of what you watched on TV. Not only that, a motion sensor to see if anyone is in the room with the TV, to pull up a program list they think they want for them.

I worked in communications and know the conveniences we love are not private by virtue of the technology. People love wireless, it is not possible without encryption to keep that secure. People love putting their story up on youtube and elsewhere. Yeah, and the government didn't need to put a boot on anyone's throat for it, either.

So we built this. Yup, we did it.

And I am still hopping mad about #3 on that list!!!