David, this isn't just a clever analogy, it's an accurate and literal description of what's going on every day across America (and other countries, I'm sure).

What's equally shocking is how blind most citizens are to this information and their lack of initiative when learning of it.  

Apathy and blind trust have no place in this issue and without organized, swift action you can expect the "How on earth did we allow this to happen?" in short time.  Each day of privacy breach makes it more difficult to turn back the clock.