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Privacy and encryption work, but it's too easy to make a mistake that exposes you.

It's very hard to keep an uncrackable encryption if you share it with the government.

There is an unarguable downside to unbreakable encryption.

Without strong encryption, you will be spied on systematically by lots of people.

You don't need to be a spook to care about encryption. If you travel with your computer or keep it in a place where other people can put their hands on it, you're vulnerable.

For personal use, I recommend the free and open-source Truecrypt, which comes in flavors for Windows, Mac and Linux.

The concern is over what will happen as strong encryption becomes commonplace with all digital communications and stored data. Right now the use of encryption isn't all that widespread, but that state of affairs is expected to change rapidly.

I am not convinced that lack of encryption is the primary problem. The problem with the Internet is that it is meant for communications among non-friends.

If you entrust your data to others, they can let you down or outright betray you.