The flip-side of this story? Imagine what the NSA is doing. Imagine how much information the NSA is slurping up, on everybody, 24x7. Now... assuming their datab

The flip-side of this story? Imagine what the NSA is doing. Imagine how much information the NSA is slurping up, on everybody, 24x7. Now... assuming their databases are an even more attractive target to hackers/criminals. Now assume that the folks who design/build/maintain/operate the NSA's are just as human as you and I, and therefore, are still prone to making just that one "oopsie" kind of mistake in their defenses. When that happens? All that data they slurp up falls into the hands of the hackers, criminals, people who mean you harm, etc. Only part of the danger of what the NSA is doing due to the "what if government turns evil" scenario. The other danger is the "what if hackers/scumbags/criminals get hold of it" scenario. Only one of those scenarios has to happen, in order for it to hurt you. And the NSA has the very biggest pot of gold at rainbow's end, PII/fraud/blackmail-wise, of any of these systems to date. Contemplate that. Fear that. Take political action. Make day-to-day choices based on that.