I was a (Canadian) kid in the blue boxing and codes scene in the early 90s. I lived through Operation Sundevil, the persecution of Phil Zimmerman and PGP users,

I was a (Canadian) kid in the blue boxing and codes scene in the early 90s. I lived through Operation Sundevil, the persecution of Phil Zimmerman and PGP users, the Clipper chip fiasco, and the V-chip with the 1996 communications act (which led to vast media consolidation). By then it was clear the government were going to surveil everything and try to censor as much as they could, and that this was completely bipartisan initiative that was driven by the unelected career senior public servants and private corporations in law enforcement, intelligence, and the security establishment. Individual politicians fought these efforts to bring some of them down (in the case of Clipper, a surprising mix from John Kerry , our 2004 US democratic Presidential candidate, to John Ashcroft (!) who later became GWB’s attorney general and completely changed positions , supporting STELLAR WIND which was revealed by Snowden). The EFF (formed after Sundevil and funded by Mitch Kapor’s Lotus 1-2-3’a fortunes), Wired magazine (much more iconoclastic in the 90s), 2600 magazine, Phrack, and the ACLU all did much to educate people about the risks. For a time, we listened. STELLAR WIND was when the 1960s-era Military SIGINT programs like ECHELON melded with broad domestic surveillance. The populace was too angry and fearful to stop it in the mid aughts. Similar to how the military industrial complex grew regardless of who was politically in charge, the security establishment has become an end onto itself that accelerated once terrorism scored a major blow on 9/11. Or maybe it was a glimpse of today’s cynicism of wanting unlimited power/deficits/surveillance/Executive orders/military options for your own party when it controls the presidency, but not the other party. There probably was a window in the 90s to mid aughts where things weren’t well under control, but funding after 9/11 fixed that. It will require an educated electorate and major mandate given to a future congress and president to undo this situation, and it likely will require sustainment over 3 or 4 terms to stick. Which is to say: The realm of remote possibility, but not likely. Adapt accordingly.