
Privacy Assured
by Greg Borek

Hello, Boris!

Well, hello Comrade Captain Ivan!  Come!  Make yourself at home in
the decadently appointed confines of Listening Post 23 and warm
yourself. 

Boris, you old fool.  How are you?  Drinking already this morning?

Tch, tch, Ivan, you know I have a strict rule only to drink on days
that end in the letter "y".  And why the question?  You yourself have
been known to warm yourself on cold mornings with some vodka...and
here is some vodka with which we might test that very theory.

Aren't you afraid of getting in trouble, my old friend?

No, for two reasons: 1) I am a government worker and impervious to
the rigors of productivity and responsibility - I am confident I
cannot be fired or demoted; and 2) you write my reviews.

<Drinks>  Yes, that's right.  Well, what's going on here?  Have you
had your ear to the wires this morning?

Of course.  <Drinks>  You know, ever since the government made
everyone use those Clipper chips to send encoded information, traffic
through here has dwindled to almost nothing.  What a brou-ha-ha that
was!  There were so many people concerned about the privacy of their
electronic data.  We had a job just to keep up with the new
algorithms.  Now that they KNOW that we are listening, they stopped
sending data electronically.  Back to surface mail.  <Drinks>

But surely they know we read that as well.  <Drinks>  What a pain!
Snooping on electronic data is so much easier: no packages to open
and re-seal, no fingerprints to leave, no turnaround time.  Let me
tell you, the boys in Surface Mail are really swamped these days.
There are rumors that they aren't reading everything and that they
are just passing some things through unread.  <Drinks>  So, you have
nothing to listen to now?

There is one company, the XYZ Corp, that still sends data that I can
intercept and read.  <Drinks>  It's funny but they were one of the
companies that complained the loudest about the loss of their privacy
and they still send data.  And why do they bother?  All they talk
about is their stupid Christmas party.  How do they keep in business?

Christmas party?

Yeah, all they ever talk about is who is selling the most tickets to
the party!  Ridiculous stuff.  I read messages from one division head
complaining that the Christmas party tickets were selling better on
the East Coast as compared to the West Coast.  And get this!  They
are charging different prices for the Christmas party tickets based
on the part of the country!  They plan to "market" the tickets more
heavily in the Midwest than anywhere else!  Utter nonsense.

Unbelievable.  <Drinks>  Anyway, I heard you were buying a dacha
inside the District?

That's right.  You are really only involved in the government living
inside the Beltway.                                             {RAH}
-------------
Greg Borek is a C programmer with a "Highway Helper" (OK, "Beltway
Bandit" - but don't tell his boss we told you), and his dacha is
located inside the D.C. Beltway.  His best friend, his client, and
his significant other are all government employees.  Greg has a
poorly developed sense of danger.  Netmail to: Greg Borek at
1:261/1129.  Internet: greg.borek@rah.clark.net

