You would be surprised at the incompetence of the surveillance state. I’ve known people subject to terrorism investigations by world superpowers where the state couldn’t figure out the basic facts about that person’s life, let alone find anything that may be helpful to prosecution. This kind of fearmongering only encourages people to not be cautious. Not that the extent of surveillance isn’t terrifying, but at the other end of the table is just other human beings. All humans are fallible, including the ones who spy on us, and we can both outsmart and outmanoeuvre them if we’re serious about it.
It’s not just government that is the problem. The problem is that the data has been collected. It’s still being collected. It already exists. And think about that incompetence you mentioned… do you think that data is safe from less incompetent actors?
The best time for action on protecting privacy was yesterday. The second best is right now.
