With the change in regime in the US I think people need to be more aware than ever of issues with free speech and privacy. I wrote recently about how the UK has passed laws that give the state agencies even more powers to spy on us all. Bruce Schneier reports on fears of similar actions across the pond.
Image from Wikipedia
ISPs are being forced to log traffic. We can use VPNs to encrypt what we do, but then those companies may be targeted too, depending on where they are located. We should use open source and open standard encryption to reduce the chance of 'back doors' being introduced. I expect there will be more efforts to control that too, but the genii is hard to put back in the bottle.
It's not just the governments we need to worry about. Crooks will be exploiting any weaknesses in security that get introduced to spy on us.
Surrounding ourselves with technology just gives more opportunities for the bad guys (whoever they are). I just read that many computers can be tweaked to make your headphones act as microphones. So even if you unplug your microphone someone could be listening. It's impossible for most people to really protect themselves unless they are given simple tools to block malicious software.
Don't have nightmares.
