Private ownership without privacy

One thing Karl Marx didn't foresee about private ownership was the lack of privacy it would bring. All kinds of personal information is available over the internet from the commercial and land registries; listed companies will have to start publishing salary breakdowns for their managers; wiretaps by competitors aren't a crime; some MPs want to ban prepaid cards so it's easier to tap cellphones; it's okay for newspapers to print transcripts of conversations recorded during police wiretaps. The latest blow to privacy is the requirement for legal entities to turn in detailed financial statements for posting on the internet. (See the Sbírka listin section for a given company at www.justice.cz.) Stanislav Gross won't answer questions about his sources of income, but mere mortals are finding it harder and harder to keep prying eyes and ears out of their legitimate financial activities. [Czech Republic private property right]