Greenwald Lashes Back At Critics Who Call Snowden A Russian Propagandist

[MADem]

150. Privacy is essential in the home, sure--but don't expect it outside your door.

Some guy walking down the street yammering about his hemorrhoids is polluting the public square with his particular medical issue; he's not expecting privacy and he's unlikely to get it. If you want privacy in communications, the only way you can be reasonably sure of that is face to face.

Phones have ALWAYS been vulnerable to tapping--the only difference is that it was a bit more physical and direct before, absent an "in" at the switchboard, of course. Some "electrician" would have to shimmy up a pole, some "tree trimmer" would have to trim the lines by that junction box, some "plumber" would have to go in the basement and look at a leaky pipe near where the phone lines come into the building. It has always been thus. And emails--heck, you can buy password crackers online. But most people--the younger generations, particularly-- vomit out their every thought in excruciating detail anyway--on facebook, on twitter, etc. They WANT to share every damn thing. They've lowered the bar, and they don't mind showing it all to all and sundry.

If China and the former (and soon to be new and 'cough' improved) USSR are spying, you know what they'll do if someone finds them out? Laugh like hell, deny it maybe, and keep on doing what they're doing. They'll pay as much attention to your "international protocol" as Al Qaeda pays to the Geneva Conventions.

The paradigms have changed. About the only hope to fight the technology of the hack is with MORE technology--but even at that, you can never be absolutely sure that your safeguards are foolproof and won't one day be vulnerable.

It used to be, before the discovery of the simple "bump key," that people foolishly felt secure with a deadbolt or two on their door. But now, hell, anyone with a file and some time can get into your deadbolted home. And if you don't know how to do it, some shit on the internet will helpfully post a YouTube and show you how...!

As I've said, people who need absolute privacy can get it if they go deep into the countryside and eschew modern life. We're just too interconnected and "wired up" these days; being on the grid/in the system/on the net means that we give up a chunk of our privacy, and we do it willingly to participate in this bigger thing. There's no going back without eschewing the modern toys.

Thomas Jefferson didn't have these problems; he didn't have a cell phone, a GARMIN, or a computer, either.