Privacy Is The Tradeoff For Convenience On The Internet

Surveillance is the business model of the internet, according to an article in Harvard Law Today, and consumers are resigned to giving up privacy for convenience. Edward Snowden increased people’s awareness, but not much changed. The USA Freedom Act did nothing more than make some minor changes in one government data-collection program. Data collection as a whole and the laws that limit it are essentially the same. Consumers don’t like companies knowing their secrets, but they don’t have any real choice. They need credit cards, cell phones, and email, so they’re stuck. Nothing will change in this respect until people demand that the government steps in and limits the invasion of their privacy. Europe is way ahead on this.