Privacy and the Frog

The activities of Edward Snowden and the NSA have re-energized the long standing debate regarding personal privacy protections and government authority. In the US this has been a debate since the founding of our nation. To what extent can government gather personal information as part of some government sponsored activity? Should the activity be clandestine? Who should review? What communications should be considered “off-limits”? It is a complex topic with many nuances and significant implications.

Americans are very fortunate. We have the opportunity to have this debate. Many countries have strict policies against this type of discussion. We live in an environment where most (notice most and not all) citizens feel free expressing their opinion with little concern of repercussion. The environment exists because of the insight of the founding fathers. Their perspective has legally persisted through many generations. We should all be grateful.

I have discussed privacy with a broad set of individuals. The opinions vary but I do hear one recurring perspective. A minority but still a significant number of people feel their individual privacy is not an issue. These people feel the government or some other powerful organization will have no interest their personal information. Privacy issues are a concern for other people. This is a dangerous perspective. It reminds me of the boiling frog anecdote. There are law abiding citizens that have been targeted and lost almost everything most of us would consider private information. At some point in time anyone could find themselves in this situation where there expressed opinions are different and negatively impact those in power. Incremental loss of privacy is hard to see but with current trends it will eventually evaporate along with many aspects of our democratic society. Do not end up like the frog.