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Politics & Current Affairs

Is Big Brother Reading Your Emails?

Most people are not aware of the ease with which governments—free, open and so-called democratic—can access and peruse our private communications.

What’s the Latest Development?


Secret orders forcing Google and Sonic to release a WikiLeaks volunteer’s email reveal the scale of US government snooping. Most people are not aware of the ease with which governments—free, open and so-called democratic—can access and peruse our private communications. 

What’s the Big Idea?

The privacy law surrounding our emails is woefully outdated, as it is based on the technology of the first email services of the 1980s. Now, with cloud services and extensive storage available through services such as Gmail, our primary archive of email is held more or less indefinitely. Ironically, this means the most important or sensitive emails receive the lowest legal protections.


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