Always assume the worst - You are likely being watched by not only the NSA

I don&#x27;t really think this post brings any constructive advice forward. And adding &quot;not to make anyone paranoid&quot; after that list of assumptions is akin to saying &quot;no offense&quot; after insulting someone.<p>It&#x27;s good to be prepared for worst case scenarios, but to <i>always</i> assume the worst will just paralyze you with fear.<p>If things are really as bad as the author thinks, then we&#x27;re all screwed. And if we&#x27;re really all screwed then we&#x27;re no more screwed by believing we may not actually be screwed. In this case our optimism is irrelevant in terms of influencing our outcomes (since we&#x27;re screwed either way), but at least we might feel better about things.

This kind of attitude has a very chilling effect on free and unrestricted speech and thought. It puts people back in to silos of thought, blanches their speech, and really works against the kind of free information sharing within globally distributed networks of like-minded individuals that&#x27;s been enabled by the internet. Perhaps preventing the stifling and free-flow of ideas by way of fear of being watched is one of the major reasons for privacy.<p>Bizarrely, the Snowden leaks may well have the same effect albeit a likely unintended effect.

&quot;Always assume that some of your employees (or co-workers) can’t be trusted.&quot;<p>And always assume that your <i>employer</i> can&#x27;t be trusted.

If I am to assume all these things I should not use online services at all.

I think the worst case is where you have friends at Facebook and Google. I always fear those friends might peek into my account.