OK, a general question. I understand why it's really bad that the government is spying on us. They shouldn't do it. But that's a civic and political issue (a very important one!) much more than a personal issue. As a private e-mail (and internet) user, I'm 100 times more concerned about Google reading my e-mail than the US government. I don't think the government cares much about my correspondence, but I know for a fact that not only is Google interested, they're actually sifting through my e-mails, extracting information and actively using that information against me every day.
Government sponsored invasion of privacy is infuriating, but corporate invasion of privacy is constant, on a far larger scale, not subject to almost any kind of oversight and scrutiny -- however slim --, and is much harder to stop (partly because it has less sinister connotations in people's minds, and people have the illusion that they're submitting voluntarily). In addition -- and this may be beside the point and a matter of personal taste -- corporate surveillance is used for far more egregious ends.
Why would you want to NSA-proof your e-mail but not Google-proof it (though that would probably be far harder to do)?
Seeing as the government can demand any information on you from Google if it really wants it, Google-proofing is a prerequisite for NSA-proofing. And Google can't imprison you.
The "I don't have anything to hide" argument is irrelevant when it applies to the political sphere. But when an article says, "this is how to hide your stuff" that argument becomes very relevant. If it's not about politics and society anymore but about your own actual privacy, why try to hide your stuff from the government when Google not only keeps a copy of your house keys but makes it a habit to snoop around and then show off about how well it knows you.
The difference between "government sponsored" and "corporate" invasion of privacy, in this specific case, is that you can easily "opt out" of Google's invasion of privacy (which, technically, isn't, since you explicitly gave them permission to do it).
Government sponsored invasion of privacy is infuriating, but corporate invasion of privacy is constant, on a far larger scale, not subject to almost any kind of oversight and scrutiny -- however slim --, and is much harder to stop (partly because it has less sinister connotations in people's minds, and people have the illusion that they're submitting voluntarily). In addition -- and this may be beside the point and a matter of personal taste -- corporate surveillance is used for far more egregious ends.
Why would you want to NSA-proof your e-mail but not Google-proof it (though that would probably be far harder to do)?