The title may be extreme, but sometimes I have to sit back and wonder, do we really have as much "freedom" as we like to profess? Can we really afford as a nation to be so righteous when it comes to the issues of civil liberties and human rights? With increasing technological capability in both countries, can citizens really count on their governments not to spy on them? Moreover, can they rely on private companies to protect their freedom when the government does not?
Recently it was discovered by human rights activists in China that Chinese users of Tom-Skype were being monitored for use of terms that the government has prohibited. Among them were some of the following: democracy, earthquake, Falong Gong, milk powder (!), Taiwan independence, and so on. The software was programmed to eliminate the words from the messages, as well as to track the users sending messages that included such words.
What interested me was the fact that Skype had assured users publicly in 2006 that "'full end-to-end security is preserved and there is no compromise of people's privacy." Yet maybe the revelation shouldn't be such a surprise when we know that our own National Security Agency was monitoring huge volumes of telephone and Internet communications in its eavesdropping program instituted by President George Bush after 9/11? What recourse do citizens have against companies that cooperate with government actions they might not even be aware of.
No matter the reasons offered (after all, surely the Communist leaders think they are justified in taking these measures for the greater good of China), spying on citizens assumes those citizens are guilty until and unless proven innocent. And such behavior just doesn't match up with the concept of freedom.
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Comments: 23
And like Paula, I am not breaking the law or plotting anything. I do, however, like to visit the Doe Network and follow lots of true crime and true mysteries. So, could this fact come back to haunt me if my husband should be shot by a stranger. Those of you following the case of missing toddler Caylee Andrews in Florida know that part of the evidence against her mother is the fact that she visited web sites for missing children in the months before her death. (I'm just using this as an example...I don't want to go off topic on whether mom did it or not.)
I've read Silas Marner...but I don't bury money in my backyard. So, do the library books I check out have much to do with my behavior. I'll stop now before I rant.
I guess I worry about the slow erosion of our rights. It's like a slow drip, drip that soon becomes an eroding flood.
My friend's father in law works for the CIA and he won't give details but he says that they do track a lot of information about each and every one of us and a lot of our behaviors.
There are web sites that people can get a lot of information quickly about any of us some is free information. I can pick up the telephone book and not only get a phone number, but in many cases the address as well quickly.