1. The NSA data collection efforts. The Washington Examiner offers up an interesting view on where this is headed:
The problem here is not national security versus individual privacy. It’s much more akin to why the founders adopted the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against illegal search and seizure: During the Revolutionary War, the British Army used general warrants to search and ransack private homes and confiscate private property at will. General warrants were purposely vague in order to give the Redcoats maximum leverage. That’s why two centuries hence, search warrants must be approved by a judge for specific objects thought to be in a particular location and related to an actual crime.
Note that just as such parameters limit a search warrant’s utility, the utility of a database for metadata purposes is its constant expansion. Thus, a government — or political candidate — that relies on metadata-driven analyses will inevitably develop an insatiable appetite for knowing more about all Americans, not just those linked to terrorism. In other words, sooner or later, “metadata” becomes the digital way of saying “general warrant.”
2. Then comes word that the NFL has adopted a new policy of what people will be allowed to bring into — or even near — stadiums on game days. You’re allowed:
• Either a “clear plastic, vinyl or PVC and do not exceed 12″ x 6″ x 12″” or a “One-gallon clear plastic freezer bag (Ziploc bag or similar)”
Plus a small purse, as in a “small clutch bag, approximately the size of a hand, with or without a handle or strap can be taken into the stadium with one of the clear plastic bags.”
Not allowed: “Prohibited items include, but are not limited to: purses larger than a clutch bag, coolers, briefcases, backpacks, fanny packs, cinch bags, seat cushions, luggage of any kind, computer bags and camera bags or any bag larger than the permissible size” but you “also will continue to be able to carry items allowed into the stadium, such as binoculars, cameras, and smart phones.”
I don’t like slippery slope arguments, but in this case one applies: We are moving towards a ban on carrying just about anything to any sort of public gathering. And when such regulations seem normal, the carrying of non-pubic gathering approved items in public in any other context will seem out of place and thus suspect and worthy of police intervention.