[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

William Safire wrote an editorial that our privacy will be completely shredded.

Too late!! My privacy is already completely shredded. Everyone's got my social security number, my birthdate, my address, my mother's maiden name, my bank balance, my credit rating (which is excellent, BTW), my reading preferences (Amazon tracks my every move and offers me suggestions based on what I look at), my medical records, etc.

The only thing they don't all have is my phone number. Only the telemarketers have that, and they call me relentlessly.

So, really, in truth, I have no privacy at all. I like to think that I do, but I don't.

The goal is to eventually have all this information on file -- a national database with millions of pieces of information about us all. What they intend to do with all this information, I don't know. But it won't be to our benefit, I can tell you that.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

There are ways to keep Amazon from tracking you. It will be illegal to keep the government from tracking you. I understand your frustration. I don't want it any worse than it is. In fact, we can turn this into a counter-offensive.

[Democratic_Machiavelli]

Very good point. I wonder if this will be part of the military outsourcing that will occur soon (it's starting with the Army).

Putting corporations in charge of this would be very smart. They already track individuals as it is and are very good at it. :( Have a group contracted with gathering the information, then download into a government owned database. Easy.