The NSA Speech: Obama Accepts the Logic of Staying Terrorized
For critics of the surveillance state, it is tempting to see President Obama’s speech a few weeks ago as a partial victory: Prompted by …
privacy
The Corruption of Power
We’ve pointed out in the past that President Obama’s views on the surveillance state shifted completely from when he was Senator to when he …
Why Great Entrepreneurs Are Older Than You Think
Continuing revelations of the extensive scope of the U.S. government’s mass spying program, piled on top of decades of foreign intervention and liberty suppression …
On “Digital” Liberty
In 1859, a book was published with the title On Liberty. Written by John Stuart Mill, a philosopher of the time, this work focused …
Sacrificing Your Privacy to Keep You Safe
Six months ago, I stepped out from the shadows of the United States Government’s National Security Agency to stand in front of a journalist’s …
Is Bitcoin a Viable Currency?
Bitcoin has been making headlines for months now. Extreme price fluctuations have sparked a vigorous debate: Is it a currency or a scam? Is …
The NSA’s Porn Problem
In the Huffington Post last week, Glenn Greenwald, Slate contributor Ryan Gallagher, and Ryan Grim had an investigative piece reporting that the NSA had …
Privacy Malpractice
The online Internet exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act are up and running. OK, they’re up. Uhh, OK, some of them are sort …
Our World Through Thomas Paine’s Eyes
I’ve just spent a harrowing weekend reflecting on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, the pamphlet that came out in January 1776 and turned the public …
The End of the Deep Web? Nope.
It was a wild ride last week in the world of the Deep Web, that section of the Internet that requires special tools to …