Who Cares If Privacy Is Slipping Away? 393
IAmTheDave writes, "This morning MSNBC's home page is topped by the opening story in a series, Privacy Under Attack, But Does Anybody Care? Privacy rights have been debated to death here on Slashdot, but this article attempts to understand people's ambivalence towards the decline of privacy. The article discusses how over 60 percent of Americans — while somewhat unable to quantify what exactly privacy is and what's being lost — feel a pessimism about privacy rights and their erosion. However, a meager 6-7% polled have actually taken any steps to help preserve their privacy. The article's call to action: '...everyone has secrets they don't want everyone else to know, and it's never too late to begin a discussion about how Americans' right to privacy can be protected.'"
Help Youself (Score:5, Informative)
For those of you that do care, an easy and practical guide can be found at this website [howtobeinvisible.com]. The book is also available thru Amazon, and isn't very expensive. Used ones are usually in the $5 range. VERY useful and has been updated for post-9/11.
Charles
The point is... (Score:3, Informative)
Its about the ongoing erosion of personal identity and freedom, of which privacy is just one cornerstone.
The US Government and (even worse) large US corporations are being allowed to using the 'might is right' approach combined with a large amount of paranoid fear-mongering to arbitrarily remove rights that have until recently had been considered a basic requirement for any civilised country, and as such were included in the constitution.
America, defend your own constitutional rights.
Re:A quote that has been rattling around in my hea (Score:3, Informative)
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
The words "essential" and "temporary" are critical to what he was trying to say.
Re:"Real life" (Score:3, Informative)