ACLU: DOJ Conflict Over Online Privacy Rights and Protections

A member of the ACLU goes against a member of the DOJ to discuss this issue. "Several years ago, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy stirred up a storm of controversy when he declared, "You have zero privacy." The Sept. 11 terrorist . . . A member of the ACLU goes against a member of the DOJ to discuss this issue. "Several years ago, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy stirred up a storm of controversy when he declared, "You have zero privacy." The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and our government's ensuing war on terrorism may be bringing us closer to making his words prophetic. But we're confident that even these events haven't put the final nail in privacy's coffin.

Privacy rights--online and in other parts of our lives--actually were reinvigorated partly and ironically in response to challenges such as McNealy's. But while we think pro-privacy momentum has stalled and suffered severe setbacks in the wake of the recent atrocities, it hasn't permanently stopped. The pendulum, which was swinging toward greater privacy protections, is now swinging the other way; it should swing back once again.

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