"Secondly, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but no one really cares what is on your hard drive; except for hackers and gov't agencies with a search warrent."
Really, only Hackers and The Government could access this information? I guess I have nothing to worry about! You can always trust our Government!
"This data would be sent back upstream via the internet"
Does not have to be if it can be viewed right on the hard drive. Sitting there is a nice file that I was stupid enought to create and serve up.
My main point is that technology is being created for the home user that continues to make access to all personnal information on a hard drive easier to view. Even with out a search warrent.
So, am I to understand that you are surfing the internet, likely with broadband access; and you do not have a firewall?
No one, and I do mean no one; is going to be digging around in your machine if you spend 5 minutes setting up a firewall. A broadband wireless router will take all of 5 minutes, and will cost you around $50.
If you prefer to pay less; there are software firewalls available for free as a download. Black Ice and Zone Alarm come to mind as pretty easy to use and 'free' software downloads.
Then, there is also the free and built-in firewall in WindowsXP.
If you are connected to the internet, and are not using a firewall; the gov't is the least of your worries.