FlashFlood wrote:

As scary as that is, I'm predicting there is going to be an imminent backlash against our online lives. Obviously our security is greatly compromised. I've grown up with technology, but have already abandoned Facebook and don't use Twitter. My only social profile is on LinkedIn.

I think the next great technology innovations are going to come in privacy. I think deep-web like privileges should be allowed to the masses. Anonymity is an important way to combat cyber-crime.

One may counter anonymity by saying that it leads to increases of cyber crime in the black market (you mentioned Silk Road, which is a marketplace for drugs, weapons, hits, etc.). Do you really think shutting down the Silk Road is going to get rid of drugs? I would wager to say that <1% of drug trafficking is done online.

Deep web is already accessible to the masses though. You don't even need to be tech savvy, just dl Tor.

Not only will shutting down Silk Road not get rid of drugs, you won't even get rid of Silk Road (new sites popped up within days of it closing). It's also worth noting that SR didn't get shut down because of security issues, but because the owner exposed himself in other ways (giving personal info which can be tracked, ordering a damn hit on that site even I knew was a FBI setup).

But you bring up an important point in that as Internet theft and crime increases, there will open up huge markets when it comes to anonymity. Tor, bitcoins, proxies etc. These things are already common place in heavily cencored places like China, and as the government crackdown on free speech continues in the west we are likely to follow. Unfortunately the victims here will be all those people who are not tech savvy, who do not realize the dangers, who just go on living their lives in the hope that the Gov "got it covered".