[owenmarshall]

> I'm willing to bet that the best security mechanisms you have at your disposal have been cracked, breached or otherwise compromised. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that they hold secret mathematical breakthroughs that render half or all of the encryption algorithms the public are aware of useless.

Paradoxically, if that is true, I think it could work to strengthen the average American's privacy.

If the NSA has made significant advances in cryptography that allows them to read pretty much anything, the focus will undoubtedly be placed on "national interests" - intercepting and reading high-level communications from friends and enemies alike.

More importantly, though, the NSA would want to ensure everyone keeps using the encryption they know how to break. If a twenty-year old systems administrator discovered and leaked that the NSA can break AES, the NSA would lose that significant advantage.

So, at least in the short term, the NSA being able to read everything would likely mean they read nothing of mine!