I am not a fan of "what if" laws. Look freedom can be messy, and it is the price we pay for freedom. Drivers drive drunk, people steal, bad things happen to good people and so forth. That is the price for living life. I would rather have my freedoms and protections from the government rather than have to a whole lot of freedoms sacrificed for very little in return of making any kind of difference.

Vis-à-vis surfing privacy from Google, have a look at GoogleSharing; a proxy specific to Google. Of course, their "solution" is only valid if you believe that they won't make use of your surfing habits. :eek:

well here you go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpfa4sH4Dpk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6e7wfDHzew

It is a matter of degree, of course. How much must we give up before it is too much?

Guess I am a little paranoid. Don't know why; I have never experienced anything from the police other than courteous and professional service.... and I've never been stopped at a DUI checkpoint, probably because I go to bed early.:)

As for the govt searching computer files and or monitoring international email etc., I am okay with that. It does not inconvenience anyone. But, before they prosecute, I would still expect them to come up with a probable cause for doing the searching.

Eh my experience with Police is mixed. When I have needed them, like filing reports or what not they have for the most part been nice. I had my license plate stolen, but I had no idea where. I figured it most likely happened at work, so I went to the school cop (I work in academia) and asked to file a report so I could get it reported stolen and go get a new license plate for my car. He said since I did not live in that county he couldn't file a report. In fact I went to two other police stations, because the other one near the DMW, which is in my county told me it had to the city I lived in. Yeah, so it looks like no one wanted to do their job to me....

I also once had a cop tell me I had no rights. I was younger, just in midtown for the first time and going to lots of house parties and what not. 2 cops strolled right into a house with out asking permission. I told them they could not enter the private property with out permission or a warrant via constitutional rights. One of the cops told me I had no rights..... They entered the house illegally but found nothing but booze, which is legal and left. I wonder what would have happened if they found something other than booze? Probable cause is a shaky line.

I'd rather have my privacy and freedoms and live with the down sides they create rather than have a big brother always looking over my shoulder denying me my freedoms and at the end of the day what does that accomplish? Does crime go down? Do people behave better? Does it improve overall quality of life? The answer to all those questions is, no it does not. All it does is takes away rights of citizens and puts them in the hand of the government. It's like a line of lyrics from a Punk band called Stiff Little Fingers, "They take away our freedoms, in the name of Liberty!"

I think most of us agree with and share your concern. Still, there is a public interest that must be protected, too. Guess I don't know exactly where the line is on that, but for sure (my opinion) they should never be able to collect information for a criminal prosecution without probable cause and a court issued warrant where appropriate.

For example, I mention in an email to an overseas friend that I made a nice profit on that antique car I sold..... then the next week, IRS is wanting to know why I didn't report that income on my tax return and is charging me with tax evasion and has frozen my bank account.

There definitely needs to be a hard, undisputed line somewhere. I hope we find that line and soon.

The much more likely scenario: you get deluged with spam emails about insuring that antique car, finding parts for it, and offers to sell it for you. Let's not forget about your company, which will decide that since you had enough money to invest in an antique car you can take a pay cut.