I might be cynical but you cannot lobby against this. The only way you can avoid being watched is to actually take technical countermeasures to prevent being watched.
What good is donating to the EFF when they have no power to stop the CIA/NSA from doing this?
We need to do both, and since I'm not a lawyer, donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation means I can be fighting on two fronts. Legal and technical.
So what do you do? Sit there in your room and just type you can't do anything about this. EFF at least represents your voice - they might not be as effective as we would like but they are trying none the less. It is still better than being cynical and not doing anything about it.
I specifically said in my post that you have to take technical countermeasures to avoid being watched (browse the web with Tor, don't signup with services that require PII, use fake PII, that kind of thing).
Donating to the EFF doesn't change the fact that the CIA/NSA are actively monitoring you now. What the NSA/CIA is doing is arguably illegal, yet they're still doing it.
Do you really think that that is going to be the long term solution? Think about an average consumer - will you expect him to log in through tor or do not register with Google/Yahoo since they require your name/phone number. Secondly it is more than just PII (the govt already has those if you are in US) - I view this more along the lines that govt is now getting more context around EACH individual. And a lot of that is personal. All your email info, your files on Dropbox, your chats, your videos are readily accessible to them.
The long term solution has to be institutional. EFF is committed to help out there. I am not saying that EFF is the only solution (or even the best solution). But, at this point, unfortunately I feel there are few other options.
Comments
I might be cynical but you cannot lobby against this. The only way you can avoid being watched is to actually take technical countermeasures to prevent being watched.
What good is donating to the EFF when they have no power to stop the CIA/NSA from doing this?
We need to do both, and since I'm not a lawyer, donating to the Electronic Frontier Foundation means I can be fighting on two fronts. Legal and technical.
They promote personal security and are loud and reputable activists. Good enough for me.
So what do you do? Sit there in your room and just type you can't do anything about this. EFF at least represents your voice - they might not be as effective as we would like but they are trying none the less. It is still better than being cynical and not doing anything about it.
I specifically said in my post that you have to take technical countermeasures to avoid being watched (browse the web with Tor, don't signup with services that require PII, use fake PII, that kind of thing).
Donating to the EFF doesn't change the fact that the CIA/NSA are actively monitoring you now. What the NSA/CIA is doing is arguably illegal, yet they're still doing it.
Do you really think that that is going to be the long term solution? Think about an average consumer - will you expect him to log in through tor or do not register with Google/Yahoo since they require your name/phone number. Secondly it is more than just PII (the govt already has those if you are in US) - I view this more along the lines that govt is now getting more context around EACH individual. And a lot of that is personal. All your email info, your files on Dropbox, your chats, your videos are readily accessible to them.
The long term solution has to be institutional. EFF is committed to help out there. I am not saying that EFF is the only solution (or even the best solution). But, at this point, unfortunately I feel there are few other options.