Blown To Bits

Eavesdropping’s OK?

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 by Ken Ledeen
For tizanidine information more comprehensive information about these two drugs, you can refer alesse (ovral l) sale to our Remicade and Humira articles. Having standardized, equitable, and buy cialis generic evidence-based rules for treatment may reduce the risk of implicit discount flagyl side effects usa bias affecting healthcare. (To learn whether Xeljanz interacts with supplements, buy cheapest levitra herbs, or vitamins, see the "Xeljanz and other interactions" section buy generic lumigan online below.) Avastin for endometrial cancerAvastin isn't FDA-approved to treat endometrial buy clonidine without prescription cancer, but sometimes it's used off-label for this condition. Talk buy cialis from us with your doctor or pharmacist, who can provide personalized guidance cialis pill about cost issues related to benzonatate. A person should speak clozapine without prescription with a doctor if they notice persistent problems with their atenolol online erectile function. Scientists believe that, in response to this stress, bone-building.

Yesterday afternoon I was in the offices of one of my large corporate clients Рa financial services company.  I needed to go online to gather some information and enlisted the help of one of their IT staff members to get me access.

The first thing I did was go to check my email.¬† I use Google’s Gmail client when I check mail on the web.¬† I like its user interface.¬† No luck!¬† I entered www.gmail.com and received a giant red warning “You are trying to access a site that is FORBIDDEN!”¬† Interesting.¬† My helpful IT guy said “oh, I forgot to tell you, we monitor every single thing that you do when you’re on the web.¬† We control what you can see, what you can’t see.¬† We read all your email.¬† We’re watching.”

Now, if I’d picked up the phone to make a call I’d have some measure of assurance that no one was listening.¬† Not so in the land of bits. I might just as well have been in China searching for Falun Gong.¬† Little Brother is alive and well.¬† You don’t need to be a government to impose surveillance and thought control.

Now this particular client isn’t a mom and pop operation.¬† The assets they handle exceed the gross domestic product of most nations. So maybe they think of themselves as a government, even a totalitarian one. But even so, I found the notion that they were watching my every move, controlling the websites I could access and hence the information I could receive, reading my email, a bit creepy.

It was one more reminder that technology had moved faster than the laws intended to manage its impact on our lives.  When telephones arrived we put in place legal protections for the privacy of our communications using them.  At some point, we will need to do the same for the bits that carry the substance of our lives.

Comments are closed.