No Place to Hide

Listen Up

• From NPR’s Morning Edition, Safeguarding Privacy While Mining Data (4:18) (5-18-2006): “The government possesses powerful data-mining technology to find patterns that could help catch suspected terrorists. But it must use it in a way that doesn't hurt ordinary Americans, the head of a government advisory panel says.”


• From America RadioWorks, the Center for Investigative Reporting , and the Center for Documentary Studies, No Place to Hide (51:29): “In the 1990s, the data industry mushroomed. Vast computer systems quietly gathered staggering amounts of personal information about virtually every American adult, mostly for business and marketing purposes. After the 9/11 attacks, national security officials reached out to data companies for help in finding potential terrorists. Now, there may be 'No Place to Hide.'”

Write Now

• Teenagers seem very concerned with their privacy, especially with regard to their parents, but one wonders about college students and their government. How did you feel about your privacy as a teenager; how do you feel about your privacy today?
• Privacy is one of the great gray areas of modern life – not clearly protected in the Bill of Rights (or perhaps not as clearly as freedom of speech and religion) but also widely perceived as the cornerstone of the personal freedom. What are your thoughts on the importance of privacy; how much intrusion are you willing to allow by the government in return for greater personal safety?

Read On

• More from Wikipedia on privacy