Deepest Condolences

WikiLeaks is at it again, this time releasing the Global Information Files - a trove of email conversations apparently hacked from the private intelligence company Stratfor. As with prior WikiLeaks disclosures, those whose privacy was violated are mighty indignant. Expectation of privacy is something for legal experts to debate, but the practicalities in our current internet-connected world indicate that almost anyone can acquire information they want, through legal means or by brute force. Organizations, governmental officials, and wealthy individuals who rely, at least in part, on maintaing political power and control through secrecy appear particularly vulnerable.

Thank goodness for cloud computing.

The line between intelligence gathering to prevent acts of terrorism and secret police operating beyond judicial oversight to maintain the status quo has been significantly blurred. The leaks about Stratfor's activities, like Academi (nee Xe, nee Blackwater) before them, provide yet another example of how activities previously associated with governments are being privatized. Since the Supreme Court has ruled that corporations have free speech rights previously associated with individuals, we can only hope that the high court will eventually rule that corporations have a right to privacy. Then we can all incorporate so the we, too, can enjoy free speech and privacy rights.

Truth is, the lack of privacy is nothing new to the vast majority of us who have no political clout and seemingly less and less representation in governmental process. We can block our telephone number from appearing on caller ID devices, except when we call toll-free numbers. Do-not-call blocking doesn't apply to political parties seeking donations. And god only knows how the GPS inside our smart phones is being used. There's so much information available about each of us, some of it for free, that it's getting harder and harder just to be in the pursuit of happiness, let alone life and liberty. So to politicians, diplomats, and corporations who have their dirty laundry aired without their permission and then cry like a bunch of alley cats, the rest of us say: "Welcome to the club."