The United States government is trying to revive CISPA, a bill which would essentially allow the government to spy on people's online activities without a warrant. Please sign a petition asking them not to pass it. http://act.freepress.net/sign/cispa_2/?akid=4086.9956652.RVaYCu&rd=1&t=3
Honestly, given recent developments, I'm not holding out much hope. The vocal minority that actually cares about CISPA isn't much compared to the damage to their reputations after they got hacked, I just hope that the outcry once it's actually gone into effect is loud enough that even with major news outlets refusing to talk about it that the vocal minority becomes a majority.
I heard it mentioned in NPR and whoever the host of the show was clearly did not even understand what the issue was. I think that's the main problem is communicating precisely what it means and how it will impact them. To most people, the internet is merely where they read their friends facebook pages, download music and watch videos of cats being distracted by laser pointers.
True to a great extent but becoming less true every year. I won't make the claim that Joe Average is getting any smarter about how they use the computer but people are using the internet more frequently now and internet privacy is becoming more relevant. I'm probably naive for thinking this but I think that businesses and governments alike are going to become a lot more accountable for their actions as time goes on and have to evolve along with the rest of the world whether they like it or not.
I'm just saying that there is a good reason why there's a problem. How do you explain to someone who is more than happy to put their entire life on facebook that privacy is important?
BTW, I can't link to the article, because it could be interpreted as political, but there is an alternative to Cispa that also has been proposed that privacy advocates and the ACLU prefers. I'll leave it to anyone who's interested to look it up for themselves. Just so you know, Cispa is not the only game in town.