http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/noplacetohide/notebook.htmlFor a time I was lost among the trees. But as we talked after long days of reporting, we tried ways of telling a simpler story, of capturing the larger meaning in all this information, the many amazing changes taking place. As a mental exercise, one day in early 2004 I sat down and dashed off a note to myself in the form of a hypothetical scenario:
What if, a few years ago, the president had given a major address to the nation and said:
We face grave threats from abroad, and at home. Millions of people around the world hate America and want to destroy us. Without doubt, some of those people are living on our soil.
To respond to this threat, I've asked Congress to create a new Department of Surveillance. Employing tens of thousands of workers across the country, this new department will gather information on all Americans and all foreigners living in America. It will monitor many of your movements and purchases, your medical records, your associations, your reading and travel habits, and much more. The Department will create powerful computer programs that will allow authorities to find patterns in the behavior of each and every American, so we may identify those among us who behave suspiciously and require greater scrutiny.
I pledge that by 2005, law enforcement officials anywhere in America will be able to enter your name into a computer, and in seconds receive a detailed dossier on you. This data will also be used to rate the likelihood that any person living in America will commit crimes or acts of terrorism. (Most of the data gathered by the Surveillance Department will also be available to businesses and members of the public at a reasonable charge.)
The aim is simple: personal and national security. Our surveillance society will be a safer society.
Would Americans have consented? Even after 9/11, would we consciously agree to have our heretofore-private information gathered and shared in this way if the choice were presented to us plainly?