Privacy and the Internet - Part 1 - What's at stake?

Let's face it, you do a lot on the internet now. It's no longer a hobby or a luxury; access to the Internet is a utility in this country. Not only do most homes have internet access, but it has become expected that many bars, restaurants, and coffee spots are hot spots where "free" wifi can be accessed.

But now that we're comfortable with using the web for everything from chatting with distant (and not so distant) friends, banking, shopping, searching for doctors, and researching day care centers, we need to ask who else is aware of our movements on the web.

Most people don't understand how the Internet works. This isn't surprising. Much like the rest of our reliable utilities, we take their function for granted. The details of how the electricity or natural gas actually gets from the supplier to the house are boring and seemingly not relevant to our lives.

Right up until there is an outage.