Fergie's Tech Blog

NSA Program Further Blurs Line on Privacy

Arshad Mohammed and Terence O'Hara write in The Washington Post:

Phone companies know every number we dial. Grocery stores watch what we buy, search engines track what we look for on the Internet, banks count each penny we deposit or withdraw.

All of that information could become available to the government as it works to thwart terrorist activity.

This week's disclosure that the National Security Agency is amassing phone calling records for millions of Americans highlighted how blurred the notion of consumer privacy has become in the digital age.

It's difficult to know how much personal information may become available to government investigators because no single law governs how companies handle the data they collect about customers. Instead, there is a patchwork of statutes that prescribe varying rules on the privacy of everything from video store rentals and credit reports to medical data and phone logs. Beyond that, companies have privacy policies that are often impenetrable, leaving consumers unsure what rights, if any, they have.

posted by Fergie @ 5/13/2006 07:03:00 AM