Why Your Privacy is Important

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Dr. Mercola

June 06 2006

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Why Your Privacy is Important

Wired News has published internal AT&T documents that, according to a former AT&T technician, provide evidence of the company's involvement in illegal government surveillance.

The documents are now being used as evidence in a class-action lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which alleges that the company illegally turned over vast numbers of phone records to the National Security Agency (NSA), and connected its Internet backbone to NSA surveillance equipment.

AT&T attempted to recover and suppress the documents, but was denied by a U.S. district judge. However, the judge turned town the EFF's request that the documents be unsealed in court records, and ordered that the EFF not share them with anyone.

Meanwhile, the government formally asked that the EFF's case be thrown out for "security reasons," and a motion has been scheduled.

Wired News has also published a commentary on why your privacy is incredibly valuable: rather than being about hiding a wrong, as some suggest, it's an inherent human right that protects us from abuses by those in power.

Wired News May 22, 2006

Wired News May 18, 2006

Wired News May 17, 2006

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting the phone call records of millions of Americans, without warrants, under the guise of anti-terrorism protection.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a non-profit group that works on protecting privacy, contends that the phone company cannot give customer data to the federal government without a warrant, and have filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T for doing so.

The government is now trying to have the case thrown out because of alleged "security reasons." This is the typical pattern of the government to introduce a problem, generate a reaction -- fear -- and then come up with a solution that takes away your freedom in exchange for their protection from the perceived threat.

In this case, the freedom at risk is your privacy, and I highly recommend you read through Wired News' commentary on "The Eternal Value of Privacy" as a reminder of just what we stand to lose.

Meanwhile, if you're not thrilled with AT&T's (and other major phone companies') potential role in all of this, it may be time to consider voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) service. VoIP is less expensive, but also -- and perhaps more importantly -- it should reduce the government's ability to do this type of tracking and monitoring of your phone calls.

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