The news struck a nerve with the public, and for good reason. The assertions flew in the face of the privacy protections that democratic societies had taken for granted for more than two centuries. These rights, which we rely on to protect your information in our Quincy data center today, were born in the eighteenth century during a boiling controversy in the streets of London. The man who ignited the political firestorm was a member of Parliament himself. His name was John Wilkes.
