As Congress debates new rules for government eavesdropping, a top intelligence official says it is time that people in the United States changed their definition of privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.
Say that with me, out loud this time to make sure you got it right.
Privacy can no longer mean anonymity. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information.
Doh! We were just being silly! Privacy doesn't mean you get to keep your secrets, it means you just need to trust the government to keep it for you.
We were going off of Webster's dictionary, which defines privacy as:
Main Entry:
pri·va·cy Listen to the pronunciation of privacy
Pronunciation:
\ˈprī-və-sē, especially British ˈpri-\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural pri·va·cies
Date:
15th century
1 a: the quality or state of being apart from company or observation : seclusion b: freedom from unauthorized intrusion (one's right to privacy)
2 archaic : a place of seclusion
3 a: secrecy b: a private matter : secret
I need to grab the latest version of the George W. Bush English Dictionary, so I can be sure of exactly what "'is' is", since he might change the definition of that, too. Not that he could read it.
Great post. I agree. The worst part about the War on Terror is how overblown it has become precisely so that government can take our rights away on a whim. Slowly, for sure, but surely. Unless we stop electing riff-raff to represent us in Washington.
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteI would hardly call it a whim. They don't arbitrarily take our rights away, they only take those rights they think they can get away with, or think they can excuse - and even then, they only take those rights which give them more power. (For example - I think our right to fry our brains on worthless media entertainment is pretty safe.)