[Xoxox]

Privacy itself is a modern invention, to a large extent. Our grandparents lived in communities and extended families that kept a fairly close watch on their members. Of course it was always possible to skip out and start a new life, but few did. The issue is more that those watching us now have different motives than our friends, families and neighbors did a century ago. But even without modern communications technologies, totalitarian regimes had no trouble using us to inform on ourselves.