I read an article today that scared me.   In it Bruce Scheier reported that the US Law Enforcement community needs to have a search warrant to read the data on your personal computers (or a business's computers), but that if the data is stored elsewhere and you've already granted someone else (like Google) the right to hold that data, then they don't need a warrant. 

(Let's pause here and clarify that this isn't a discussion about where to hide your illegal material, and I know that many of you are asking, "why would I need to protect myself from law enforcement?"  Maybe you'll never have to, but look at the lessons we have in our recent history, and you'll see that giving this power away when it doesn't matter will have a dramatic effect when it does matter.)

I don't think that people value their civil rights.  Our generation hasn't had to fight for them and in the Western world knows very little about having them taken away.  I'm reminded of the story about the little boy who gave away a quarter for two dimes because he then had more coins than before.  If a person doesn't understand the value of something, then it's easy for someone who does to steal it.  Even the removal of civil rights isn't as great of a concern as the reason behind their removal.  What is coming in the next decade?  America's borders are closing in the name of national security, and invasive searches are accepted as commonplace in the name of national security.  We have police cameras up in residential neighborhoods to "keep crime down," a terrorist watch list with a million entries, and cities whose local police force have set up an international presence that rivals that of the federal intelligence agencies. 

What does this have to do with the security of email?  The culture created by a surveillance society is one that is complacent and accepting of the power of the government.  Your data is your own.  Privacy is your right, and what you don't control is a threat to your future.  You don't control the law enforcement agencies who are snatching up huge swaths of network traffic and looking for patterns.  You don't control your name appearing on a terrorist watch list for reasons you will never learn.  You don't control being detained without charge and interrogated because your name is the same as someone else's.  These are not actions taken to make a population secure - they are taken to control the population. 

You cannot change them.  We're already 8 years past the events of 9/11, and the undoing of the legislation put into place since that time will be a job for generations to come.  What you can and must do is protect yourself.  You may have a home preparedness kit or other plans and materials to protect you from the unknown.  You protect yourself when walking down the street at night.  You lock your doors at night.  Defend your data.  

• Use encryption with your email clients - using SSL for POP, IMAP, and SMTP traffic
• Use a service provider who upholds the value of your privacy and will protect your data from all who would steal it
• Use envelopes for your email, communicating securely with friends and loved ones
• Store important data on an encrypted filesystem or in an encrypted container, so that if someone steals your computer, your data is safe
• Encrypt your backups

If everyone encrypted their traffic, those who would steal it would have to work harder to get to it - if their intentions are noble and righteous, they can get a search warrant.  If their intentions are not, then they can't have it.

This is what it means to be part of a free society.