Creativity through privacy v NSA

You will likely have come across this news in the last 24 hours, that the NSA is being sued by Wikimedia/ACLU for their Dragnet surveillance program: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/10/wikipedia-sues-nsa-dragnet-internet-surveillance/

I think it’s fair to say this is one of the first modern legal battles to consider creativity through the lens of privacy. As Jon mentioned yesterday, as we drill down into certain layers of the course, it becomes less and less obvious how we connect (digital) creativity to some of the layers we’ve been discussing. I think privacy can definitely be one of those layers. But if this case is able to move forward (and not be thrown out 5-4 like some of the ACLU’s related previous actions), I think the case will have an important role in grounding contemporary privacy questions in contemporary creativity questions.

From an Op-Ed today by Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, and Lila Tretikov:

Privacy is an essential right. It makes freedom of expression possible, and sustains freedom of inquiry and association. It empowers us to read, write and communicate in confidence, without fear of persecution. Knowledge flourishes where privacy is protected.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/opinion/stop-spying-on-wikipedia-users.html?_r=1