1775: First Postal Service instigated; no confidentiality assured. 1700s: Mail is routinely opened as it passes through the postal system.
1790: First 1782: Congress enforces postal confidentiality
national census is conducted.
1800s: The “penny press” publishes unbridled gossip about the private lives of celebrities, under the protection of the First Amendment.
1800 1791: The Bill of Rights protects 1787: The U.S. Constitution stipulates that a census be conducted once a decade. Many people regard the census with mistrust.
GIPSTEIN/CORBIS (Preamble to the Constitution); CRAIG BREWER (Bill of Rights)
freedom of speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.