The NSA probably is building profiles on many people. But so are Google, Facebook, etc. The real problem is not the NSA (well, not just the NSA) - it's the inherent design of the internet. We're trying to live private lives on public networks, and we're going to have to go through some serious growing pains before that is resolved.
So this government shutdown seems to have no effect on the NSA.<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norman-solomon/the-nsa-deserves-a-perman_b_4017195.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norman-solomon/the-nsa-deserve...</a>
Anybody looked at <a href="http://www.dailydot.com/politics/flowchart-avoid-nsa-online/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailydot.com/politics/flowchart-avoid-nsa-online/</a> (linked by Schneier in the blog post)?<p>Isn't that a little drastic? The fact that my 4096-bit-gpg-encrypted mail has been stored by them doesn't mean my communication is pwned: the idea with strong encryption is exactly you cannot trust the transmission channel! And besides it doesn't take in account OTR for chat.
Alexander must be indicted immediately for anyone to regain ANY trust in the NSA.<p>Alexander is a criminal, however, so is Holder, Pelosi, Cheney, Bush, Powell, Obama, etc etc etc etc....
The idea of Total Informational Awareness has been shouted about for <i></i><i>years</i><i></i>. there is only <i></i><i>ONE</i><i></i> next step: stand up against the NSA in entirety. We must make a move that is truly going to force reform.
Some people owe me up-votes for all those down-votes they gave me six+ months ago when I stated one must assume a zero privacy environment when engaging technology today.<p>I'm just happy I knew what the Internet was like before mosaic and the www emerged. It seems so quaint now.<p>Edit - How long until people ditch their Black Amex cards and go back to cash for some privacy restored? A short decade ago it wasn't so uncommon to carry a few bucks. How many people really want banks and the government knowing all of their consumption habits in addition to the timing of their consumption?<p>All in the name of fraud prevention! Just carry a few bucks and no worries again!
> We have to assume that the NSA has everyone who uses electronic communications under constant surveillance.<p>We don't have to assume anything except that which is provided by evidence. If you have the evidence, then allow it to present itself. Assumption leads to conspiracy theory and inaccurate information. I really don't think that's what this cause really needs.<p>Is it just me or does Bruce Schneier's posts read more like propaganda than journalism? It's pretty awful and I'm surprised HN is eating it up. He tip toes on fear mongering through exaggeration, e.g. in OP getting people more hyped up and fearful of the NSA because they're tracking EVERYONE... except, it's only an assumption. Calls to action should not be based on assumptions.