There have always been mothers leafing through their daughters’ diaries and fathers poking around their sons’ rooms for hidden cigarettes. But snooping now feels obligatory, rather than desultory, and therefore extra-intrusive; it’s also work. There’s usually more than one device or platform to consider monitoring (Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, phone texts, phone photos, Twitter feeds, Xbox hours), and almost all require a touch of savvy to do it. The women at Deirdre’s went around and around about this question, debating the ethics of surveillance (or “creeping,” as kids call it). One woman said
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