It's right there in the constitution. Prevention of unlawful search and seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Privacy is important to a well-functioning society.
Email was created back when the internet was a very different place. A network of universities and researchers sending simple and jovial communications.
Not today's vast web of interstate and international commerce, debate, social networking, communication, dissemination, and who knows what else.
So email has a very central nature of trust inherent within it. Baked in, if you will. That makes it easy to exploit. And exploited it has been!
GMail admits that it reads your emails, uses the information contained within to identify you and serve you ads, and even modifies your emails so that they can track you more effectively.
Did you know that!? Would you be ok with your neighbor doing any of those things?
I didn't think so.
"But hey, I have nothing to hide."
Are you sure about that? History is filled with folks who thought they had nothing to hide until some authority changed the rules on them.
And even if you have nothing to hide: do you want to live in a society where everyone has no privacy and the social censors read all of your interpersonal communications?
I don't. And I hope you don't either.
They say that all it takes for evil to prosper is for good folks to stand by and do nothing.
Well we have stood. And we have done nothing. And a convenient, free, popular email service has stolen our privacy as a nation.
But they only keep the power by acquiescence. The minute folks change their mind and get off of the band-wagon, their party ends.
So that's what we're doing. We're starting a movement.
Join us!
