Tag Archives: reasonable expectation of privacy

What Privacy???

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Will somebody please give that Snowden dude a place to go live so he can get the hell out of the news.  I know this is one of those stories that drives the ratings in order for our corporate media owners to line their pockets so they can bribe, err… donate, to their political cronies.  If you actually step away from the hysterics and look at things from a legal perspective, nobody in their right frame of mind should have been surprised at the NSA program.  Let me explain.

 

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Reasonable+expectation+of+privacy

 

There is already court precedent that dictates that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public place with a few exceptions.  If you’re standing in the middle of the highway, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy if you have a bundle of marijuana strapped to your back.  If you’re standing in the middle of the food court in the mall, there is no expectation of privacy if you’re talking about committing a violent crime.  There are exceptions that cover you in your car and things on your person.  However, if you’re in the public and it’s in the view of the public, you’re likely going to lose a court argument in regards to privacy.  Now that we’ve established there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public places, the next thing you need to do is look at our communication system.

 

Our communication system occupies PUBLIC airwaves and frequencies that the government leases out to companies through auctions.  That means, the phone call that you make on your iPhone 5 or Galaxy S4 isn’t just being funneled through Verizon or Sprint.  Your call is transmitted through frequencies that are being leased from the government.  You’re basically using public spaces to communicate.  You shouldn’t expect any privacy when you’re using someone’s system to communicate.  I personally never have and I never will expect privacy in communication.

 

In addition, our most excellent dysfunctional system of governance is so far behind on effective legislation for electronic communication, they’re still writing rules regulating using tin cans and strings to talk to neighbors.  If you honestly expect them to catch up with the advances in technology at anytime in the near future, you’re likely to see vegan grizzly bears sprout wings and fly south for the winter.

 

So just where does that leave us?  Well, life is full of choices.  You can decide to simply live your life knowing that your writings, conversations, and phone calls can be logged somewhere in some cubicle at any given time.  Conversely, you can unplug from it all and go live off the land in the woods like a mountain man.  It’s all up to you.  That’s what being American is all about.  You have the freedom to choose your path.  Then again, why is this whole privacy issue even worth getting your feathers ruffled when we live in a country where people put their entire life on display on Facebook or Twitter?  That’s why this brother doesn’t do either one or most other forms of social media.  I know that my privacy isn’t really private, but that’s not gonna keep me from limiting what actually gets outside the walls of my home.

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