Snowden says he could see what I do on the web.

[JDPriestly]

120. I don't mind if my knitting yarn company watches what I do online.

I presume that they make no profit from watching me express my political opinions.

But when whoever is in the White House uses taxpayer money to watch me talk about politics, religion and my personal life with my friends and acquaintances, a red flag goes up.

Granted, private parties can use the information they glean from my electronic communications to profile me. But what are they going to do with it besides profile me?

We do need a law prohibiting employers or companies that might provide employers or lenders or people who have some control over our lives from obtaining our electronic profiles, but beyond that, I really don't mind if a seed catalog company or a clothing sales company observes my internet browsing and sends me ads for things I have shown an interest in.

The government has too much power over people's lives to allow it to enter into our private spheres. I have been trying to find a copy of the report I read yesterday online (the link was on DU) of the report to President Obama on the serious problem of the collection of metadata and other data from the internet by the government and on other aspects of privacy in the electronic era. I hope you find it. It may answer some of the questions your post raises.

The capacity of the government and private entities to collect our metadata requires us to rethink protecting privacy and writing new laws and regulations that permit us to enjoy the privacy that we need to be human beings and to participate in a democracy.

The surveillance by our government violates our Constitution in a a number of ways -- almost every right protected on our behalves by the Constitution is jeopardized by the government's generalized collection of metadata and even more so by the collection of other data without a warrant.

This is a serious problem. A lot of people think it isn't because they just don't understand what the government has the capacity to do with the metadata. I hate to be condescending, but this is a problem, a very, very serious problem that should not be taken lightly.

The invention of gunpowder revolutionized the world. It gave those who had gun powder a significant advantage in war and permitted small countries like England to invade, conquer and rule large countries like India.

The ability of government and private entities to amass and analyze our electronic data and metadata is as significant as the development of gunpowder. It will change the world. If we don't want to have to choose either to live as recluses without electronic media, we will have to work together to limit the collection and use of our private data. And this effort needs to be international.

People are thinking that the paradigm of the past still exists. It doesn't. This is not a question to be passive about. This is something that we the people have to take charge of and control. Otherwise those in the government and out of it will be in charge of us in no time.