The Spy Who Didn't Love Us

I don't know if you've seen this yet, but the Bush Administration wants to know every detail about where you go, and what you look for, on the internet. They are leaning on the search engines, like Google, and the service providers, to keep records for at least two years about every web search you do, and every website you visit, and every email you send. Given the Chicken-heart predilictions of most isp's and search engines, I don't imagine they are having to lean very hard.

Were you concerned about what sort of nuclear work Iran might be doing? Have you run a Google search on: "Iran nuclear bomb"? Congratulations. You're now on a list...

Over the last few days I've been blogging about the breakdown of the wall between private lives and public lives; although it is far removed from slobs munching tacos on a public bus while yakking on their cellphones, what we have here is, actually, just another instance of that. It used to be that what you read, who you talked to, and what you were interested in were your own business.

Not anymore. Now it is the goverment's business as well, and they are taking steps to find out.

We are not talking about fun, sexy spies like Barbara Bach; we are talking about a government that spies on you from the time you get up in the morning and check your email, through the day as you buy things with a credit card and make bank deposits, 'till nightime, when you call a friend in London or New York or Ottumwa. Every single one of those actions is now being monitored by the government. And this is the same government that bans folks who disagree with it from flying.

Feel safer yet?

George Orwell is spinning in his grave.