I'm sure that by now you've heard of the newly instituted Internet Terms of Service (IToS). A law, policy, ... whatever it is, that effectively gives the National Security Agency unfettered access to any and all information sent and received by users of the internet residing within the United States of America. I don't know how this was pushed through Washington. I don't know how no one stopped this. I don't know how this did not receive any media attention until after it was already passed. What I do know is that contrary to what government officials are saying, this is not good for the American people. How could it be? They claim that access to all this data will allow agencies to better respond to terrorist threats and thwart them before they are put into motion. They claim that being able to access your grandmother's location and internet browsing history will help them stop bombs and save lives. Honestly, I don't see it. The amount of information they collect will make looking for illegal activity harder than finding a needle in a haystack. The government has already tried to do this with illegal music downloads, and found that finding the file uploader was nearly impossible. The sheer volume of internet traffic that the American people create turns the proverbial haystack into an even bigger pile of needles. Add to this the fact that any communication between terrorists will most likely be encrypted with the IP addresses masked, and it becomes clear that this is a play by certain members of the government to see how much of the Bill of Rights that Americans are willing to give up without a fight in the name of national security and anti-terrorism. It has been over a decade since the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, and yet buzzwords like terrorist and security are still allowed to trump the freedom and the unalienable rights that have always been a part of the American condition.
But I digress. While the affect of IToS on the American people's perception of the internet is important, what worries me the most is the long term effects. The way I see it, this can only end in three ways.
- IToS is abolished and a more reasonable set of laws are put in place
- Every country that allows its citizens to connect to the internet put in place laws similar to IToS
- Other countries refuse to interact with the United States out of privacy concerns and the US becomes cut off from the rest of the world
While IToS has been approved, it is quite likely that it will be reversed. Once countries realize that any communication sent to the United States can and will be seen the NSA, foreign companies will not want to do business with american companies. Leading to profit losses, decrease in America's GDP, and job loss. The public outcry and sustained business pressure will force the law makers to reconsider, opening the floor agian to the discussions following Snowden coming forward. In the end, Capitalism will save the day.
The second scenario involves IToS setting precedent for other countries to implement their own version of IToS. Leading to a world where everyone is tracked and monitored by their respective countries for their own ... "safety". This would just open the floodgates for a 1984 style society. Where every action is scrutinized, and where every choice must be explained. This scenario seems less likely to me as it would require international cooperation on a large scale, something I believe the current political climate would not support. Though who is to say this won't change in the coming years.
I admit, the third scenario is unlikely, though only because I don't see one of the first two scenario's playing out first.
The Internet Terms of Service are concerning. The fact that they were allowed into law in the first place speaks volumes towards the world we live in today. But there is still hope. No law is set in stone, and as the public comes to term s with what IToS actually means for them, I can only hope that public outcry will result in a prompt reversal of the law.
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