So you think you have Nothing to HIDE ?

[JDPriestly]

18. The damage is done by the very gathering of this information.

It is a very important, fundamental legal concept called "chilling" a fundamental right. We have all suffered an injury if our speech has been "chilled" that is if we stop and think before we say or write something, before we call someone in this instance, because we fear that "Big Brother," in the government might notice or observe that we spoke or called. That in and of itself is a serious injury to freedom.

Here is Wikipedia on this subject:

In United States and Canadian law, the term chilling effects refers to the stifling effect that vague or excessively broad laws may have on legitimate speech activity.

. . .

t, however, became further used as a legal term when William J. Brennan, a justice of the United States Supreme Court, used it in a judicial decision (Lamont v. Postmaster General) which overturned a law requiring a postal patron receiving "communist political propaganda"[7] to specifically authorize the delivery.[8]

The Lamont case, however, did not center around a law that explicitly stifles free speech. The "chilling effect" referred to at the time was a "deterrent effect" on freedom of expression—even when there is no law explicitly prohibiting it. However, in general, "chilling effect" is now often used in reference to laws or actions that do not explicitly prohibit legitimate speech, but that impose undue burdens.[8][not in citation given]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilling_effect_%28law%29

If knowing that your Google searches are being provided to the government would cause you to stop and think and ask yourself whether maybe a search you make could be used to embarrass you before you make a search, then your speech has been chilled.

If you stop to think about what you post on DU because you suspect that the government or other private parties may be snooping on you and what you write, then your freedom of speech has been chilled. It is a very important legal concept. It is fundamental to the protection of our rights. The Wikipedia article mentions some Supreme Court cases so that you can research this further for yourself.