Couldn't agree more with the op ed's point: modern surveillance is about consolidating power. It's not about security, it's about control over the populace.
But the faceless enemy, once brown-skinned Al Qaeda terrorists in foreign lands, historically used to round up public support for national security measures is quickly morphing into domestic computer geeks and anyone who disagrees with the surveillance state.
Using privacy protecting tools like Tor in this modern environment isn't about whether you have something to hide. We live in a free society, and in a free society you have choices. You can choose to hand over all of your phone calls, text messages, emails, and Internet browsing activity to an above-the-law entity; or you can choose to obscure your data.
Answer me the following: does handing over all of your personal and private data to the NSA make the world any safer? If so, you must be a terrorist. Does handing over your family's private data make the world any safer? Then your family members must be terrorists. Because otherwise, your data would be meaningless, and so what benefit is there of letting the NSA have all of it? There is no upside, unless you're a terrorist.
And since you're not a turrurist, the NSA surely won't mind if you're using the Tor Browser Bundle.
And one more thing, if your system only works when you manipulate masses of people into using it, at gunpoint, or by fear mongering, or by lying to them or cheating them into using it, your system is doomed to fail. The individual has no incentive to opt into the NSA's dragnet surveillance program. Obviously terrorists have no incentive to let the NSA have all their data, and yet the system only benefits society if we catch terrorists. This results in the NSA sweeping up data from harmless individuals and companies, which should be deathly frightening to you because it means they'll need to make examples of harmless individuals and companies who they claim are "radicalized" to continue justifying their budget and their fusion centers and so on.
Honestly, it's about time you guys talking your book start disclosing your total Bitcoin position. Some of the top voices have 100,000+ BTC to their name: cough evoorhees trace mayer. Dunno about vbuterin, but this is just something to think about.
I know bitcoin is a major innovation, but having a bunch of them is an insanely powerful motivator and it becomes virtually impossible not to mix fact with fiction when your entire net worth is riding on it.
But the faceless enemy, once brown-skinned Al Qaeda terrorists in foreign lands, historically used to round up public support for national security measures is quickly morphing into domestic computer geeks and anyone who disagrees with the surveillance state.
Using privacy protecting tools like Tor in this modern environment isn't about whether you have something to hide. We live in a free society, and in a free society you have choices. You can choose to hand over all of your phone calls, text messages, emails, and Internet browsing activity to an above-the-law entity; or you can choose to obscure your data.
Answer me the following: does handing over all of your personal and private data to the NSA make the world any safer? If so, you must be a terrorist. Does handing over your family's private data make the world any safer? Then your family members must be terrorists. Because otherwise, your data would be meaningless, and so what benefit is there of letting the NSA have all of it? There is no upside, unless you're a terrorist.
And since you're not a turrurist, the NSA surely won't mind if you're using the Tor Browser Bundle.
And one more thing, if your system only works when you manipulate masses of people into using it, at gunpoint, or by fear mongering, or by lying to them or cheating them into using it, your system is doomed to fail. The individual has no incentive to opt into the NSA's dragnet surveillance program. Obviously terrorists have no incentive to let the NSA have all their data, and yet the system only benefits society if we catch terrorists. This results in the NSA sweeping up data from harmless individuals and companies, which should be deathly frightening to you because it means they'll need to make examples of harmless individuals and companies who they claim are "radicalized" to continue justifying their budget and their fusion centers and so on.
The entire system is FUBAR.