Privacy

Privacy - The Edward Snowden leaks about the NSA confirm that we have none. Nothing you do on the internet should be considered private, period.  At some point in the near future ISP’s and others will probably start making encryption software available that is easy enough to use for the average person. Until then assume that anything you communicate through the internet may someday be released by someone disgruntled.
A possible scenario is that a hacker or a government worker will release a large amount of illegally collected personal emails to make a point about how much info the government actually collects on it’s citizens. It may happen, because that is the only thing that will make the seriousness of the issue real for the average law abiding citizen who thinks they have no reason to worry if they are not breaking the law.  

If you really want to communicate secretly, some people use Signal or other encrypted apps and set their messages to disappear after a day. I can’t guarantee that saves you if you committed murder or if Saudi Arabia hates you, but it is probably secure enough for secret love or melodrama.

To become fully sober on the topic of how YOU, in fact, are the online product being sold, watch the movie the Social Dilemma.

My friend Zeke wrote a great post about simple ways to protect your privacy.