Client side monitoring makes way more sense in this case, I'd have to agree.

I suppose people need to learn not to use facebook for private messages. Or Skype. Or any US based corporation.

There's plenty of end user solutions that are secure - depending on the level of surveillance on the client it's going to be relatively difficult to set up secure communications though.

Imagine a scenario where authorities have a warrant to listen in to your communications. They'll install a trojan on your computer that sends screenshots and keyboard input to their computers. So forget about using the PC (or Mac, doesn't matter; while Macs don't get attacked by trojans in the wild, a targeted attack is near impossible to prevent).

That means use a mobile phone (buy a new one in a shop if extra paranoid); use a VPN or that secure chat program, and only use public internet access, like starbucks, as your home internet might be compromised. Then, once a secure channel is established, you're pretty safe.

PS: I suppose buying a new laptop would work too but laptops / PC operating systems are a soft target compared to say an iPhone.