Are we more concerned about privacy nowadays?

[Praetorian]

I agree with Chad in that I feel utterly powerless to change anything and that I have to live my life now no matter what happens politically. The exception these days seems to be cultural, which arguably has the most impact on our day to day lives (especially if you're gay and/or a woman).

The NSA is creepy and wrong, but I don't think they have anything incriminating on me. All I can do is go about my business until I can do otherwise.

[CleanShavenJesus]

If an equivalent to today's NSA scandal broke out say 40 years ago, would there have been as much hubbub about it like there is today?

What would the NSA have done, tapped into our record players?

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

If an equivalent to today's NSA scandal broke out say 40 years ago, would there have been as much hubbub about it like there is today?

What would the NSA have done, tapped into our record players?

It doesn't matter to consider what they could have done for the sake of the answering question posed. The possible reaction of the general populace back then is what I'm interested in. I'm not interested in how such a feat of spying could have happened or if it could happened. That's irrelevant to the question.

[CleanShavenJesus]

What would the NSA have done, tapped into our record players?

It doesn't matter to consider what they could have done for the sake of the answering question posed. The possible reaction of the general populace back then is what I'm interested in. I'm not interested in how such a feat of spying could have happened or if it could happened. That's irrelevant to the question.

False. The amount of information and type of information they could've obtained then as opposed to now is a very large factor. Nowadays, they can tap into:

Phones
-Landline phone
--Calls made and received on my landline phone.
-Cell Phone
--Calls made and received on my cell phone
--Texts sent and received on my cell phone
Computer
-Desktop
--Internet
---Browsing history
---Commonly "Googled" items
---E-mails
---Word documents, spreadsheets, any Microsoft Office document
---Complete access to and right to analyze any online account I have, ranging from Facebook to AtheistForums.
Other things I probably missed

In 1973, they could have tapped into:

Phone
-Landline phone
--Calls made and received on my landline phone




I think the public reaction would've differed because of this.