I have watched with great interest the developments over the course of the last 3-6 months as it pertains to widespread surveillance of Internet users by government agencies. While the NSA surveillance program has been the most publicized, there are reasons to believe that China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Australia and others are conducting similar activities.
One of the things that concerns me most is the double talk coming from most of these countries about “promoting the values and importance of online privacy in the context of basic human rights”. A bad precedent has been set. Let’s just accept this as the reality of things. And unfortunately, this precedent is eating away at some of the basic precepts of Internet growth — trust, openness and user-focused development.
And as you can see from this article, the government actions over the last couple of months has opened a Pandora’s Box in terms of the individual’s right to information, freedom of the press, personal privacy, etc. The implications for the future of the Internet are grave. Let’s just hope that the system is as resilient to political and ideological threats as it is to technological ones.
Niel Harper 