I'm making no assertions, just asking a question in an effort to stimulate conversation on the best way to protect privacy on these new devices.
As you've been called to the carpet on by many posters in this thread over, you started with a sensationalist title that asserts, without any evidence, credible or otherwise, that the NSA has systematically implanted a backdoor on the iPad line.
That certainly stimulates discussion all right, but a good portion of it is noise: having to refute speculation presented as fact.
Reasonably protecting privacy on an iPad and similar devices is actually not too hard, but it involves dropping a lot of the common services people frequently use. Dropbox, Google Apps, iCloud, are all out, pretty much; if you use them, you should treat them as non-secure, non-private channels. The same for SMS, instant messaging and e-mail as a whole: most e-mail in particular is sent in the clear, and once it leaves any device you control, the content is now completely out of your control.
Part of the answer is in rolling some of your own solutions: an encrypted VPN on a server you control using keys you've generated yourself (
OpenVPN is a good option, among others). A solution like
owncloud can also be deployed (again, on hardware you trust and control) to provide "cloud" functionality and document/resource sharing.
That, for now, is the best you can do (hence "reasonable," these measures don't work so well under the "unreasonable" measures taken recently by some government agencies to mine personal data). If that's not enough, then the only option beyond that is to lobby lawmakers to reign in the NSA and similar elements. Their control is tight enough that you're not going to guarantee your privacy without pretty much going off the grid.
Is showing respect for your government and still desiring privacy talking out of both sides of my mouth?
When elements of that government are found to be attacking individual privacy, among other constitutional rights, systematically in the name of security, then yes, I firmly believe that to be the case.
It is NOT reasonable, nor does it make sense, to "respect" what the government is currently doing, and then wonder aloud about how the data on your iPad might be leaked to that same government, and complain that you're not getting enough privacy without taking additional measures. It's a lot like a retiree who actively depends on medicare and social security, voting for a tea party candidate who seeks to cut off "entitlements:" the logical fallacy in that is pretty monumental.
These notions can be mutually exclusive. Please read more carefully before bashing your fellow forum members and stifling discussion.
I can read fine, thank you. And what discussion am I stifling? You seem to be articulating yourself just fine. If anything, discussion has been dramatically stimulated, and it appears you're the one now trying to quash dissent.