Not exactly on topic, but related: with all the revelations around the NSA spying, I've started thinking about the internet as basically a non-private space. It

Not exactly on topic, but related: with all the revelations around the NSA spying, I've started thinking about the internet as basically a non-private space. It's a distributed network, and data passes through myriad corporate and governmental infrastructure. Anything you want to keep a secret, you just can't put it on the internet. On some level, the power of the internet is connected with this non-private nature. I've never understood what the argument for widespread adoption of encryption on the internet was. To get the same utility, you'd have to have a huge "private" network, which would quickly become non-private again. In light of this, it is disturbing that more and more systems of society are being moved on to the internet. Health records being particularly omninous. You can choose not to post or have profiles on social networks. It looks going forward we will no longer have the option to keep private medical info private.