>They'll know something about web sites I visit, and maybe >they'll tell the CIA. They'll know about my political >attitudes and who my friends are. But then what? A comprehensive database of citizen's political attitudes and friends would be immensely beneficial for an authoritarian government attempting to censor ideas, parties and even people. The threat may seem hyperbolic right now, but thirty or more or even less years from now, Facebook's databases could be used to identify 'innocent' civilians as 'opposition' -- for simply being friends with somebody twenty years ago, even if they haven't communicated with them in over twenty years. I don't intend to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the scenario I describe as a response to "But then what?" seems, to me, like a practical, cost-effective solution for any government or entity attempting to preserve power and curb dissent. I'm not sure why some social networks log *all* activity of user's Friends List, because a couple well-placed subpoenas or (il)legal confiscations of server equipment would give any tyrannical regime more than enough information to persecute its critics and prevent an opposing political party from forming and communicating. -djs