Just in case you weren't paranoid enough...

As I've mentioned previously, I'm a big fan of Richard Bejtlich's TaoSecurity blog. Yesterday, he made a post entitled "I Have Seen the Future, and It Is Monitored." The post is interesting and very, very disturbing. From the perspective of the Infosec professional, it is enlightening and provides ample material for further research. From the perspective of the gearhead, though, it scares me silly. Given the widespread use of National Security Letters, one doesn't have to be a conspiracy theorist or paranoiac with an Orwellian, dystopian view of the future to see where this could lead. The points both for and against the level of access described in Bejtlich's post are numerous and compelling. I certainly can see the need, but I'm also not comfortable with the potential ramifications. One would hope that such access wouldn't be misused, but human nature being what it is, I've got a dollar that says it would start being misused the instant it became available.