> "In today's mechanized world, it appears to be a virtual certainty that houses connected to the earth can—and eventually will—be broken into."

Or rather "... houses with doors can —and eventually will—be broken into."

Also: "... houses with WINDOWS can —and eventually will—be broken into."

Even as a programmer I would much rather have to get through "… houses with WALLS …" than through reasonably strong encryption, the task might require strength, but is quite straightforward.

And its easier to break into the average house than the average pc.

Maybe, but it's definitely easier to break into a million PC's than a million houses.

Moreover, many houses also have BACK DOORS!

Sure, but you can decide if you want keep the key under the rug beside that door.

Not just broken into, just peered into. Do not have windows if you expect any privacy.

And of course, do not speak at home (or do not expect any privacy).

Having blinds on your windows still doesn't mean you should expect privacy, any window you own can - and probably will - be looked through.

Genuinely curious, do you need a warrant to look through a window.

I guess the answer is "sometimes, it's complicated"...

In California, police can peer into car windows without a warrant. That's one reason police always seem to be carrying a mag-light when they pull someone over. (The other being that mag-lights are heavy and useful as clubs.)

Oh yeah. Another piece of advice I've often heard is that, if police come to your door asking questions, it's prudent to step outside to speak with them, rather than speaking with them through an open door. If they see something suspicious through your opened door, they can reasonably claim probable cause and force entry.

This may be all BS. But it's advice I've heard more than once.

If police are doing a "knock and talk", they don't have a warrant. Barry Cooper had the best script for that:

If police are knocking, lock your door and say through a window: "I don't talk to police; have your dispatcher call me. If you have a warrant, here are my hands, go ahead and kick the door down". Then cover your ears, close your eyes, and wait.

The problem with those kind of scripts is that while they correctly account for not accidentally exposing yourself to the Police (without a lawyer present etc), they fail to account for the consequences of getting in the police's nerves and looking like a suspect in their eyes (which can get down to them downright making stuff up or planting stuff on you).

if police are targeting you, they're likely to make stuff up or plant evidence anyway.

If you feel you can't handle your affairs, make sure to lawyer up as soon as the police leave your house. You'll need to. let the lawyer know what you did, so he can take appropriate action.

Just remember that a lawyer, should (s)he put your needs above the needs of The People or The Court, (s)he would be disbarred. So don't expect magic to happen.

> Genuinely curious, do you need a warrant to look through a window.

Home windows? If it is visible from a place where a normal person going about their normal activities can see, then no warrant.

For example, if someone walks up your walk to your stoop and there are windows that can been seen through from there, then no warrant. If they have to step off your walkway, walk around the side of your house, scramble through your bushes and pull themselves up to peer through, then a warrant would be required.

I think you can be charged with public indecency if you stand in front of your window naked. So there is some sort of gray area when talking about the privacy of your home.

Depends on your location. In my state (Oregon) that's totally fine as long as your intent is not to offend anyone

Hmm. I don't agree with the ruling either. But I don't think this analogy does the original argument justice.

The point of mentioning "accessing the internet" is it's a lot easier for the hacker to scale up their wrongdoing with ease. It's much simpler to put a virus of some sort (say, a fake download button on a media sharing site) and reach a large audience, than it is to break into the homes of a similarly large group of people.

Where I primarily disagree with the judgment is that this notion makes it a "virtual certainty" that hacking occurs for any given person. Smart browsing habits, and general computer literacy, can make the odds decrease to near zero.

Not only that, most places(?) have fire codes that mandates that all houses are easy(ish) to break-in to. Maybe not easy to sneak into, but certainly easy to break-in to. Because the fire department and emergency services need a way in.

I suppose the analogy would be that just because Microsoft has the power to remotely upgrade your windows 10 install (and potentially install any back-door), that should not violate your expectation of privacy.

A house not connected to the earth would be pretty awesome, but you'd have to have a way to get food and stuff delivered [1].

[1] http://what-if.xkcd.com/149/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houseboat and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(2009_film) are both connected to the earth. I think you need a spaceship for real freedom.

And even a spaceship will experience a gravitational connection to the earth, no matter where it goes.

Not if you can figure out how to teleport the spaceship into a different universe.

Hermicity[0] might be what you're looking for.

http://hermicity.org

drones, man. all about the drones.