First online, now this
Back in the days, privacy could be taken for granted. If you wanted to have a conversation with somebody and it was important not to be overheard by anyone, all you had to do was take a walk in the countryside. So there was no need to make laws about these things.
Today, an entire industry has grown up, monitoring people's behaviour online in ways that would not have been possible in a traditional context without at the very least having someone turn around to you and ask "WTF is wrong with you? Leave me alone, you creep!"
And now there is a generation of kids growing up never having known what it's like not to be under continuous surveillance. These really aren't good conditions for any efforts to pass privacy laws.
Intrusive mass surveillance is always sold as a weapon against criminals, but nobody is ever more than one government vote away from becoming a criminal. And Angry from Tunbridge Wells writes to the local paper, saying "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" -- but he still seals the letter in an envelope.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
