nothing on internet is safe or private. we all should be careful and concerened about what information we share and with who. because no matter how SECURE a website says it is, no matter how many privacy policies we agreed to sign, we are still not secure. if the governement wants it can interfare with our data and even organizations can use our data for any purpose they like. There should be a strict law of mis-handling of data without permission. However, when the CIA case got public and the love affair of the CIA chief was opened to all , it proved that even at governement level, there is not security. 

tech_ed: 

Yes, if you try too hard to hide something it will raise some concerns. But then most companies and individual categorize some data worth protecting and they will resort to all kinds of methods to ensure its safety. 

Stegnography works but I am not sure how you would to it on a compay-wide basis. As far as your personal data is concerned you can hide it in plain sight. 

I don't think there's anything to truly worry about for the common user here. People, for the most part login in to their accounts to check mail and make routine searches, that's the extent of it, there are ofcourse alternatives for this segment of society, and its pretty large, and the number given here aren't really anything to cause alarm in my opinion.

I guess there are two approaches to this then....if you start to take extreme measures to protect your privacy, you may attract undue attention....a kinda "what is he/she hiding" mentality. Then there's the I have nothing to hide attitude and just don't have any obvious means of encryption. 

If you truely have something to hide, building a huge encryption wall will make people want to tear it down. Therefore, the only valid method of protecting privacy is in plain sight. Stegnography. Here is a bunch of inoccuous vacation pics...nothing sinister...or is it? 

Another way to hide in plain sight is to flood their decryption attempts with pure nonsense so that important information gets missed...sure, encrypt all communications...but have a mass mailer that sends millions of encrypted nonsense files all day long....needle in a haystack kinda thing. 

But honestly? Just don't volunteer to the world your every day activities....If you give your information away, then it truely has no value!

Tech_ed: 

Even with an active approach there is a chance that the Goverment will still be able to get your information. It is a relative term, your proactive approach against their tools to crack for encrypted information. 

I think if the Government wants to access your information it will finds ways and do it anyways. So, if anything is meant to be private it must better not be on the internet. 

"For enterprises, the concern should probably be less about spying, and more about negligence"

Kim – the article was interesting. I was though, a little unclear about your reference the concern of enterprises. Could you clarify what you meant?

It is becoming more and more worrisome thinking about just what have I written on computers that might sometime show up in a governement file somewhere. Well, in actuality it would seem that we all certainly have something filed away in an agency file, the real problem becomes at what stage in the future, might an official decide "lets take a look at this guy and see what we can find."

There might be lots of fishing expeditions in the future fueled by politics, money, or envy.

I guess my comment is simple, what level of privacy you would expect if you posted your information on the bulletin board at a local grocery store; it is in fact there for all to see.  At this point in time there may be some limited efforts to provide some sort of privacy, but this is minimal at best and truly not secure. 

It would seem like people that truly think that internet, ISP, and Social media is secure are living in a land that does not yet exist and I did enjoy your article.  The more intrusive nature of the administration does not seem to be heading in the direction of privacy either.  As long as I understand that nothing is private or secure I can work within these constraints.

Thank you for the contribution. I agree with your comment. "Internet is public domain, no privacy is enforced" still holds. If the privacy is compromised for one reason or another it would not be private any longer and you can not recover from that.  If one really has concerns about a piece of information and wants to keep it private, do not put it in Internet. Once it leaves your computer you would never know where it will end up.

What this article is basically saying is that if you want privacy, you need to take an active role in protecting your privacy. Encryption, stegnography, misdirection. Don't rely on others to protect your privacy for you...this becomes even more important when you have something to hide! This is a good message to criminals!