A lot of people feel the National Security Agency (NSA) is creeping into their lives, while others don’t care. It’s a little like the movie “The Final Cut” with Robin Williams, in which people of society have built-in life implants that record their words and actions on video.

Is this the direction in which our society is headed? To be upfront, all data on the Internet is sent publicly. You can think of this as a postage stamp or postcard. With the right eyes, the right techniques and the right knowledge, anyone can see what you are doing. The only barrier is the desire of the intended third party, and whether they want to hover or watch over the activity taking place.

In the tech world, we call this a man-in-the-middle attack. The idea is very simple: imagine you’re sitting in a coffee shop talking to a friend. In the midst of that conversation, someone eavesdrops and hears what you say.

Again, in the tech world, this poses a security hazard. Everything must be secure. However, the fact remains the Internet was NEVER ment to be secure. Actions like accessing your banking details online and making purchases in virtual stores were implemented as after-thoughts. This digital revolution now requires encryption, or code – like Morse code.

Now back to the NSA, which with its snooping is acting as the man in the middle. The agency watches over you with both points of access. News reports claim all the tech giants are privately cooperating with the NSA, while the tech giants deny this accusation. In any event, the NSA – or any government organization, for that matter – has only to listen into communications between two parties. Tech companies therefore do not have to cooperate. The government has the capability and resources to eavesdrop on a source without assistance.

Under the Patriot Act, Internet providers are required to maintain a data retention policy. This went into effect in 2001. So now the question is, who knows the most about you? Your Internet provider (think AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Verizon)? Or is it the NSA? Who is required by law to record everything you do online?

You can safely assume any salacious activity or private message has been retained at some level somewhere. We have encryption in place for some protection, but encryption – like any code – can be cracked. The effort goes into cracking that code, like a bank vault safe box.

If you think text messages are immune, think of this: you can hide the context of the message, but you cannot hide the source or its intended destination. Also, realize your phone provider keeps records of their own.

What I deem as unsafe are companies that superficially claim they are secure sources or endpoints for transmission without revealing their practices. Avoid these companies – they refuse to open themselves to scrutiny. The companies to trust are those that openly reveal their practices and allow security professionals to audit their systems.

True privacy is accomplished by making the crack-able encryption an extremely time-consuming endeavor. We’re talking between 50 and 100 years. If you achieve that, you have achieved your goal of privacy. Encryption of this measure does exist in technology like GPG. (Gnu Privacy Guard)

In short, the question becomes this: should you live a public life, whether it be moral or not? Do you have anything to hide? The Constitution protects against crime, but when that document cannot protect you, only your lifestyle, word and standing within your community can.