Post script summary: accept that privacy on the web has never been the case and develop strategies for communication with the "web reality" in mind. Accept the fact that nothing replaces your involvement with others as a hedge against the robber barons of Big Government.
You will see stories on censorship of the web here, at Midknight Review.
You will never see stories about the invasion of [my] privacy as a blogger.
You have to be out of your mind to think there is any sense of privacy to be found on the web. We often confuse "privacy" with issues centered around "censorship." They are not the same. I write each day, knowing that everything I write is open to review by Home Land Security or some such agency. I know that someone is looking. Google monitors this blog. Home Land Security responds to "flagged" commentary, and local law agencies can get involved in my work, without my knowledge. To the extent that this supervision provides for the safety of my family, I do not mind.
Alternative Methods of Communication
Want privacy in your communication? Try snail mail or ham radio or carrier pigeon; maybe you should learn Morris Code. The crystal radio can be an option for news at some level. Understand this, I am actually being quite serious. Look, the Constitution actually charges us with the fight against enemies, both foreign and domestic. And, as scary as that might sound, folks need to think about communication options. If a free people lose their ability to communicate freely, the assault against them is final. Look to China, parts of the Middle East or any nation with despots at the helm, for confirmation.
More than any of the above suggestions, however, is the importance of "word of mouth." Church assemblies, TEA party type demonstrations, physical meeting such as CPAC or the monthly meetings of political entities, talk in the barbershpp, anonymous signage, signage on your property or car, participation in townhall meetings, voting for just about anything as along as the ballot is a secret ballot -- these are your very best options to your presence on the web; these are the very things that cannot be controlled.
More than any of the above suggestions, however, is the importance of "word of mouth." Church assemblies, TEA party type demonstrations, physical meeting such as CPAC or the monthly meetings of political entities, talk in the barbershpp, anonymous signage, signage on your property or car, participation in townhall meetings, voting for just about anything as along as the ballot is a secret ballot -- these are your very best options to your presence on the web; these are the very things that cannot be controlled.
Point of post: