Government Adds Consumer Databases To Mining Queries 179
mrraven writes "According to an article in the Washington Post the government is increasingly using consumer databases for surveillance purposes. " From the article: "It is difficult to pinpoint the number of such contracts because many of them are classified, experts said. At the federal level, 52 government agencies had launched, or planned to begin, at least 199 data-mining projects as far back as 2004, according to a Government Accountability Office study."
Uh Oh! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:1)
You should do like I did, and have a Safeway card registered under the name Richard M. Nixon. Presidents are immune from questioning about WMD.
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:2)
1) Go to $grocery_store
2) Fill out club card
3) Put the name and address of someone you don't like
4) Buy weapons of mass destruction on sale with club card
5) ???
6) (Oil) Profit!
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:2)
I'm sure that they're wondering who the hell "Oliver Clozoff" is, and why he or she is buying Mentos and Diet Coke at the same time...
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:2)
Dell already asked this question (Score:2)
False declaration (Score:2)
Xix.
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:5, Interesting)
Ammonium Nitrate && barrels && diesel && (Arab Muslim || Ryder truck rental)
I don't know about anyone else, but I would really prefer the government stop spying on all Americans in a mostly futile effort to catch a relatively small number of Muslim extremists. I would prefer the government had focused on dismantling Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, since they were actually responsible for 9/11 and are still mostly not held to account. I would have preferred they hadn't gone off on a tangent and off the deep end in Iraq and in spying in the U.S. For example it is insane to make everyone take off their shoes in airports, from now on, because one guy put some explosives in his shoes once and it didn't even work. People on airplanes will freak if they see someone try to light their shows now so I'm not very worried about this vector of attack. It was insane to create a concentration camp in Gitmo, and it is really insane to snatch up innocent people with Rendition, endorse the use of torture, and dismantle due process all of which have permanently tarnished the U.S. in the eyes of the world and made many Americans ashamed.
I can probably live with the FBI focusing some attention on Arab Muslim men who are in this country on visa's of one and if they are doing things that are suspicious, get a FISA warrant and spy the hell out of them. FISA warrants are almost never denied and at least there would be some restraint on the spying. All the spying that is going on has NO restraints on it, and is ripe for and probably is being abused.
Sure its possible another 9/11 plot slips through the cracks, but its a smaller price to pay than the one we are paying by turning the U.S. in to a police state, reviled by the rest of the world, and that is what we are getting. Even worse we are getting a police state that can make extensive use of computers and networks to create a police state that is more all knowing and all seeing than any in history. And it is a police state with nukes, lots and lots of nukes, and the most powerful military in world history(though it still can't control the streets of Baghdad).
A new 9/11 plot might kill some people but the war in Iraq has killed far more people than 9/11 did and in a year or so it will have killed more Americans than 9/11 did, having passed the 2500 mark this week. A new 9/11 plot might cause a lot of economic damage like the first, but the war in Iraq is heading towards the half trillion dollar mark, we are spending more there every month than we spent during the height of Vietnam(adjusted for inflation) and Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. American should have whacked Al Qaeda after 9/11, and then laughed in their face and said we aren't going to play your game, we are going to be an even better and freer country than before and do some things that would make a real difference in the world, and in the eyes of Muslims, like resolve the mess in Israel.
All I'm saying is:
Dear Government, Please stop being insane, Please stop spying on me, Please stop wasting all my tax dollars and borrowing my country in to a hole it will never get out of. Please stop making the rest of the world completely hate America and Americans. I like the rest of the world and I would like them to like me. The fewer people who hate America, the fewer people there are who will want to blow it up. Please FBI keep an eye on Ara
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:2)
No, farmers register for use.
"I would really prefer the government stop spying on all Americans in a mostly futile effort to catch a relatively small number of Muslim extremists."
Yes, ever so much easier to follow the trail of debris and body parts, eh? Yes, they are small in percentage and number, but they do mega-death and damage. I prioritize for proaction, not reaction.
"I would prefer the government had focused on dismantling Al Qaeda and the Tali
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:4, Insightful)
The U.S. and Pakistan has made no viable effort in the tribal areas of Waziristan [csmonitor.com]. Afghanistan and has turned it in to a narco-state thanks to the corruption of the U.S. supported government, and on the other hand a home for a resurgent Taliban. You see the U.S. backed government is so bad, the Taliban looks good by comparison. Rumsfeld's failed strategy of using the North Alliance on the ground and the U.S. in the air, scattered the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It did very little to actually catch or punish them.
" In it you list things the FBI should have done (which would have "stopped" 9/11), which is pretty much exactly what they're trying to do now."
You fail to grasp the concept. You see the FBI could have stopped 9/11 just using some basic police work and good communication, with the powers they had pre 9/11 and and pre patriot act. They don't need to spy on all Americans to catch Al Qaeda. The FISA courts worked fine the way they were, sure it was some paperwork but that is a small price to pay to prevent spying on innocent people.
What they are doing now is massive overkill and of dubious merit. It is in like making you take your shoes off to get on an airplane. It makes it seem like they are doing something when in fact they are just punishing innocent people to give those same people a false sense that they are doing something effective.
"They are buying data from the commercial sector and using it. This is spying how?"
Because they can and probably are correlating it with all the other data they have, much of which is illegally obtained like our phone call records, and evesdropping on our every form of communication without FISA warrants, probably illegally accessing our IRS records, sneak and peak searches which is basically the Patriot act authorizing the government to break and enter in to our homes and businesses withour our knowledge.
The cumulative effect is our government is accumulating vastly more information about us than they should. Knowledge is power and when our government can use computers and networks to accumulate all this information about us they are becoming enormously dangerous. If I could trust them that would be one thing, but Hoover and Nixon and all the bad things the CIA and FBI have done in the past when they started spying on America suggests they can't be trusted. It is inevitable all this spying will turn in to spying on dissidents, to suppress dissent, and smearing political opponents to suppress democracy, and to just suppress our right to free speech and right to privacy in general.
" (You don't think they would have discovered the Saudis learning to take off and not land without the "mining", do you?)"
Dude, the flight schools they were at reported them to the FBI because they were being suspicious. As I recall TWO different schools reported them in Arizona and I think Minnesota. THERE WASN'T ANY MINING INVOLVED. They ARRESTED Moussaoui a month before 9/11 because of it, and were holding him on a visa violation. The FBI could have foiled 9/11 with some basic police work but they didn't because they are an inept bureaucracy.
" How then do you suggest they determine those individuals that are doing suspicions things which might lead to another 9/11? "
Arab men in this country on visa's deserve more some scrutiny by default, since all the 9/11 attackers were Arab men and citizens of Middle Eastern countries and likely will be in the future. Unfortunately there is a degree of racial profiling there but, but its against people who aren't U.S. citizens and I am OK with that, that is a smaller price than trashing the civil liberties of citizens who have done nothing wrong nor will they.
You see you are presuming all this bullshit is actually going to foil th
Nothing to do with terrorists (Score:2)
This is aimed at other purposes such as:
- Profiling by seing what kind of books, music, magazines, newspapers and other such thing people buy.
- Detecting criminals and people that try to escape taxes by estimating how much they are spending m
Re:Uh Oh! (Score:2)
That's been demonstrated to be fiction. The votes disposed of were split along party and racial lines because they were random. If you have proof otherwise, link it.
Shopper preferences (Score:2)
Chemicals:Semtex
Clothing:Balaclava
Other customers who have bought these items also bought
detonators
AK-47
hand grenades
bulk ammounium nitrate fertiliser
anthrax
sarin gas
religious items:
What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
Commercial companies are doing far worse and most of them don't ensure the same level of privacy as the government would maintain.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2, Insightful)
1) "Mentioned" in a conversation with a reporter, or
2) Recorded in a portable medium (disks of some sort) and lost accidentally.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
At least with the government, they are looking for illegal activity (currently). The commerical world could give a rip what you do, or how their actions harm you. It's all about making money.
Every visit a site to buy something, tell them to not bug you, and the next day your new email address is thrashed with SPAM? Happens all the time to me. I create a new email add
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem with your assement here is the definition of what's illegal. Sure, that's fine if it's ensuring that violent criminals are being taken care of, but as it's used against (yours, ours, my) children for downloading music, or later down the road against those that disagree or speak against what they do (or what we don't know that they do), then you have a problem.
And maybe if you think everyone is just group hating the government, maybe you need to pay closer attention.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
With a company.. you have absolutely no clue or control over what they do or how they want to perceive your actions. Take the RIAA for example. If they found you had a single MP3 on your computer they're likely to cal
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
Part of the problem is that violent criminals are dangerous to try and catch. Someone who is activly planning a mass murder isn't likely
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
I don't like the wire taps and Patriot Act either.. but let's get a grip on some sanity here. There are greater things to fear than the government collecting the information we FREELY PROVIDE. Did you read the report last week about this becoming the biggest threat for identify theft? You think some Joe is going to wri
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
eg Mark Twain: Congress is America's only native criminal class.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:1)
i suggest you read Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" to gain some more insight on this topic. the united states wasn't created by all, it was created by a minority. and throughout our history, most everything has been done with the power-hungry and wealthy in mind.
government as an ideal may strive to grant and protect people's rights; but governme
Democracy... (Score:5, Insightful)
<rant>
Theoretically, in a democracy, the government is elected by the people. Unfortunately the selection of candidates available to be elected is usually controlled by a smal clique of wealthy people since it has become so expensive to run for office that no normal person can afford it without sellign his/her soul to these special interest groups. So in effect it is they who are create the government, not the people. Sometimes I get the feeling that the only thing that keeps democracy from being a totally unworkable system of government is the fact that the pack of weasels that make up the government are usually to busy the stabbing each other in the back to concentrate fully on their great design which seems to be to bring about the total collapse of human civilization as we know it. That and the fact that once in a while.... uhmmm.... make that once in a loooooooong while the people grow a spine, get off their ass and remind their 'elected representitives' that governments should never forget to fear their electorate.
</rant>
Re:Democracy... (Score:2)
What do you expect? (Score:3, Insightful)
A government of the people, by the people, for the people? What kind of whacked out pinko commie rhetoric is that? For the people...puleeeze... Next what will you want? Votes that actually count? How about free karma points while you are at it? I guess you will want a government that sticks to that liberal manifesto...what do you call it...The Bill of Rights next? Don't you know that thing is also called the Presidential toilet paper?
This is the NSA and we approve this post.
Private compared to government (Score:2)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
A government of the people, for the people, and by the people? Are you from the past???
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
emphasis mine. Volunteered to the corporation, not to the government. I should be able to control where information about me that I volunteer goes - if the people I volunteer it to can pass it on to their hearts content, I might as well assume that if I give anyone information, within 6 months it will be known by everyone. Considering that there is information about me that I would rather that some people did not have, s
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
The government can put you in jail.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
Yes, the U.S. government goes to great [slashdot.org] lengths [slashdot.org] to protect the information it collects.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:3, Insightful)
You are asking the legislature and executive branches of government to pass bills into law which would limit their power.
Not. Gonna. Happen. in today's world.
Use your vote wisely. Vote out the current scumbags, and give a new crook a chance.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
Yup...heck, if they connect to Acxiom's [acxiom.com] databases...they'll already have about all the info on US citizens they need.
They get records from all types of sources, US Postal change of address, states that sell drivers licenses, phone books, warranty cards...etc.
Re:What's the big deal? (Score:2)
You seem to have that backwards.
Most people have expressed very loudly they don't trust companies with this kind of informtaion, and try very hard to ensure as few companies as possible know anything. I do not participate in surveys, store promotions, or a lot of things.
It has always known that it would be illegal for the government to have that kind of information. It has alwa
Nothing to worry about (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Nothing to worry about (Score:2)
Re:Nothing to worry about (Score:2)
I'd like to hear the logic from a Republican slashdotter regarding the argument put forth here.
Re:Nothing to worry about (Score:2)
Re:Nothing to worry about (Score:2)
Or, as I hilariously saw elsewhere on Slashdot today, "Whoosh!"
Re:Nothing to worry about (Score:2)
Here we go (Score:1, Flamebait)
Boy that sure took the wind out of our sails (Score:2)
From the functional specification (Score:5, Insightful)
- G. Orwell, Functional Specification: A Consumer Data Mining Model for Homeland Security
The damndest part is that I drink like a fish, and the only problem I have with pork is my Homeresque refusal to believe that things as wonderful as bacon, ham, and sausage can all come from the same, magical animal.
Unfortunately, I live next to a really good butcher's shop, and have no need of a loyalty-card based chain grocery stores. Guess I gotta get out there and start buying Lee Greenwood albums on my credit card or something.
Re:From the functional specification (Score:2)
Re:From the functional specification (Score:2)
Re:Not -so- sure about that (Score:2)
If they aren't doing it already, they will be as soon as someone figures out it's possible. It's all one system in that the same machine reads both cards, so if they're separating the data, it's because they decided to do so.
nothing to see here ... (Score:3, Funny)
move along
Re:nothing to see here ... (Score:2)
Re:nothing to see here ... (Score:2)
The greater risk is likely to come from spys in their midst. Regardless of if these spys work for other governments, organised crime or even corporate entities. Combined with governments just handing over the information to other governments...
What not to buy with plastic (Score:2)
Where does it end?! (Score:1)
I for one welcome our new Soviet Masters (Score:1)
Re:I for one welcome our new Soviet Masters (Score:2)
How Strict? (Score:2)
Eh, what’s wrong with an end run around the safeguards protecting our freedom and liberty? They act like that’s a bad thing or something.
I guess when the “strict constructionists” say that the Constitution isn’t a “living document,” that must imply that it’s just some smelly old corpse to be kicked
Funny thing about the government (Score:1)
Who Does Classified Contracts? (Score:2)
If a contract is classified, who gets to bid on it? Just the big defense agency companies? Where's the oversight?
Re:Who Does Classified Contracts? (Score:3, Insightful)
Thats what this is all about. People can make a lot more money with no oversight.
Re:Who Does Classified Contracts? (Score:2)
Go ahead! (Score:1)
Re:Go ahead! (Score:2)
Now dont tell me corporations are NOT running u.s. (Score:2)
Just i have finished replying to a comment requesting that i provided an example to 'corporations taking control of a country' for another discussion.
It is a giant conspiracy against people of united states. And money is at the helm.
NEWS: Goverment not really that nice (Score:2, Funny)
Today terrorism, tommorrow ??? (Score:5, Informative)
The Patriot Act was supposedly passed to help law enforcement in their fight against terrorism, but it didn't take long before it was being used in the "war on drugs". When the Patriot Act was renewed recently, they added a provision about methamphetamine.
In Attorney General Gonzo's own words: Importantly, the legislation provides additional tools for protecting our mass transportation systems and seaports from attack; takes steps to combat the methamphetamine epidemic that is sweeping our country; and closes dangerous loopholes in our ability to prevent terrorist financing.
It is scary how this was packaged up under the "terrorism-oogity-boogity-label". This may all seem a bit off-topic, but it demonstrates that the government is willing and able to lump other issues into the terrorism catch-all.
Re:Today terrorism, tommorrow ??? (Score:2)
Re:Today terrorism, tommorrow ??? (Score:2)
Re:Today terrorism, tommorrow ??? (Score:2)
There may be more truth than sarcasm here. For one thing these people arn't likely to actually be dangerous to arrest.
Re:Today terrorism, tommorrow ??? (Score:2)
What proportion of the time will it actually get used to look for actual terrorists? There's also the issue of what happens when the "wrong" terrorists get caught. e.g. radical Zionists, Christian anti-abortionists, Arabs opposed to Bin
history? (Score:4, Insightful)
from the article:
"The public is willing to bend the rules a little bit with respect to privacy," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, adding that Americans showed similar tendencies during the "red scares" after World War I and World War II. "They are giving the government the benefit of the doubt in large part because they are concerned about terrorism."
yep, the us government really showed how much they can be trusted in these situations. mcarthy didn't go over the top at all...
sum.zero
ps yes, that was sarcasm
J. Edgar Hoover was far worse than Joseph McCarthy (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edgar_Hoover [wikipedia.org]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy [wikipedia.org]
Re:history? (Score:2)
Too bad Mr Kohut doesn't get out more - perhaps if he did he would meet some actual Americans who could tell him what they think instead of him having to make things up based on the pure vacuum that [obviously] exists in his town. Certainly he wouldn't make it very far down any street in this neighborhood spouting that kind of crap...
Tag: totalinformationawareness (Score:1)
(o) (o) [wikipedia.org]
This is their ultimate goal. Knowing everything about everybody at all times. Except for themselves, of course...
Why shopping patterns need to be private: (Score:4, Funny)
On the plus side... (Score:4, Informative)
You can also use that info to judge the effectiveness of whatever disinformation you use to protect yourself. For example, a good friend of mine had a fake id made up with her real name. But it had a bogus age (younger than her real age, she is a woman after all), bogus address and bogus SS# (or maybe DL# I forget). She was tired of all the clubs that swipe the magstripe to "check id" when in fact they are "swiping" your personal information.
This use had the unexpected side-effect of creating a completely bogus "identical twin" in a surprisingly large number of these commercial databases with the same name and same town, but otherwise completely different info. In some databases like the address lookups on yahoo and other places, her "twin" is the only entry - her real info isn't there. At the very least, this twin should confuse any stalkers (she's had a few before this development).
Admiral Poindexter seems to have gotten his way (Score:5, Interesting)
Want to Anonymize? Disappear? Try this... (Score:3, Funny)
Otherwise try these tips...
Going
Diss credit: Want to be hard to find? Start by dashing off stern opt-out letters to the big database companies and credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, Equifax. These folks may make a mint peddling personal info, but they can be cajoled into stopping. First, though, they'll make you jump through hoops - like filling out a 1040-sized form or idling in toll-free hell. Junkbusters [junkbusters.com] has a good list of opt-out addresses.
Anonymize: Ditch your ISP and sign up with a service that lets you surf by proxy, keeping your IP address concealed. Send email via an anonymous remailer like Mixmaster, a digital middleman that scrambles timestamps and message sizes. And if you're going to be advocating the violent overthrow of the government or bragging about your cool new bong, make sure your remailer routes messages through multiple machines.
Grok the fine print: Boring as it sounds, read the privacy statements that clutter your mailbox around tax time and sever ties with companies that admit, "Our privacy policy may change over time" - industry lingo for "We reserve the right to screw you."
Going Further
Ditch the digits:Want to drop out?Start by rustling up a new Social Security number.
The Social Security Administration doesn't accept paranoia as a criterion for granting a new card, but it recognizes cultural objections and religious pleas. One stratagem: Contend that your credit has been irrevocably damaged by a number-related snafu, or that you live in fear of a stalker who knows your digits. Once you switch your SSN, never use it. Instead, dole out 078-05-1120, an Eisenhower-era card that works 99 percent of the time.
Call cell-free: Use the humble pay phone. Mobile phones are being outfitted with global positioning satellite chips to comply with an FCC mandate. By 2006, all wireless networks must feature 911-friendly tracking technology. Marketers are cooking up ways to capitalize, like zapping burger coupons to your Nokia as you stroll by a fast-food joint.
Pay full price: You may relish saving 10 percent on Prell, but deep-six your buyers' club cards. Supermarkets and pharmacies haven't yet perfected the art of data mining, but it won't be long. "If you're having a child custody fight, they could subpoena your frequent-shopper cards and say, 'Look, he's buying too many potato chips, he's hurting the kids,'" says Robert Gellman, a Washington-based privacy consultant.
Gone
Move: Want to go completely off the grid? Start by moving - address changes bedevil databasers. But don't buy a home. All those loan apps will blow your cover. Residential hotels smell like cheap cigars and urine, but at least you can register under a pseudonym. Give a fake address: 3500 S. Wacker, Chicago, IL, 60616 - the front door for Comiskey Park.
Toss your cards:Pay cash for everything, and don't plan on a life of luxury. Any (legal) cash transaction more than $10,000 triggers government reporting regulations, which means you can forget about that Cadillac Escalade you've had your eye on. Settle for the subway or bus, using coins rather than prepaid fare cards, which keep a record of trips.
Go incognito: Facial-recognition gear will soon be ubiquitous in public spaces. To fool the systems, invest in a pair of bulky aviator sunglasses and a hat. If you fear being tailed, alter your gait every time you hit the street - a pigeon-toed shuffle one day, a bowlegged amble the next. There are also Central American plastic surgery mills, beloved of drug lords, that can alter the loops and whorls on your fingertips. It'll set you back 10 Gs, but then, Costa Rican doctors have been known to accept gold Rolexes in lieu of cash.
Re:Want to Anonymize? Disappear? Try this... (Score:2)
Re:Want to Anonymize? Disappear? Try this... (Score:2)
That information is out of date - it has been $3k for some years now - that action was taken as part of the so-called "war on drugs" - I am not completely certain it was not lowered again from $3k [according to the Moneygram website referenced below, it has been lowered to $2k under the so-called USA PATRIOT Act [loc.gov]].
If you don't believe it (can't imagine why, but .... ;)), the proof is simple - go to Walmart [Moneyg
Re:Want to Anonymize? Disappear? Try this... (Score:2)
The solution? (Score:2)
Actually that's pretty sane advice from a "ending up with more money and less crap you don't need" point of view as well...
This is a loophole for call records (Score:2)
It's illegal for them to hand that information over to the government. Even Republican Arlen Specter said "There is no doubt that the NSA program violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act" [washingtonpost.com]
There is no such law to forbid phone companies from selling call records to private consumer research firms. As far as I know, there's no law forbidding the NSA from being yet another customer of the
Re:This is a loophole for call records (Score:2)
Ding, ding, ding--we have a winner. The Privacy Act of 1974, FISA, et al mean bupkes if the .gov can trawl the oceans of commercial databases that are conveniently allowed to exist.
Re:This is a loophole for call records (Score:2)
.... you meant "where" didn't you? Instead of "whether"?
Does anyone know if the NSA is operating shell corps (similar to the way the CIA operates) ?
payback (Score:2)
The Bankruptcy Bill was the trade for the Credit Card companies handing over our spending records. (I'm sure that there are certain high-end clients that are exempt, of course).
Re:Propaganda and You (Score:2)
I say that however not to let the corporations off the hook what the corporations CAN do is outsource your job, trash the environment for short term profit, and use their monopoly powers to stifle innovation. Just because the corporations are not as big a danger in snooping than the govt., it does not follow they are good or
Re:Propaganda and You (Score:3, Funny)
*cries*
I... I thought I was... special...
The night is so cold...
Re:Propaganda and You (Score:2, Interesting)
For example; in the last month, while researching stuff for a current (harmless) project, doing my day job, and doing some political reading, I have visited sites containing information about:
The Koran (wanted to read it for myself),
Turbine engines,
GPS systems,
video and
Re:Propaganda and You (Score:2)
Well, you're making two assumptions there - a) that [we] rush to gmail (there are some folk don't use it, you know - quite a lot of them, I hear - even some /. subscribers), b) that all gmail subscribers provide actual data - disinformation is a two-way street, my friend - remember I told you that when you find out that Google is an CIA front company...
Re:Propaganda and You (Score:2)
Well yeah - I mean, if there were no right to privacy, the fact that George Dubya Bush is a deserter in wartime from the US armed forces, and that Dick Cheney has been dead since before the 2000 elections would be common knowledge. Wouldn't we feel salty, then...
Re:Nothing to see here. Move along (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll bet there are other good relationships they can find to make the citizens 'pay more'....
Some states (Mass?) are already doing stuff like this...wait till you get it on a Fed. level...
Re:force of nature/government (Score:2)
Really? Where? I mean seriously, so you have cites for that? Most of the crime I hear about involves computers and networking only peripherally. Even the so-called "terrorists" don't seem to be particularly tech-savvy. Of course, I understand that an oppressive regime can use the "threat" of terroism to "scare" the citizenry into giving up basic rights, but that is not tec
Boy, you're naive... (Score:2)
You really think that the government can somehow "protect" you, and you alone? I suppose that is why at the local government level we hear on the news every day "...police prevented this man from breaking into an apartment where he was going to brutally rape and kill this woman..."? Oh, that's right - we don't hear that, do we?
Other than in the most rare of circumstances will we ever hear this, and it will be because
Re:force of nature/government (Score:2)
Government having more irrelevent data could equate to less protection.
that's like saying would you rather have fewer cops.
It depends what those cops are actually doing. X cops on the street may be a lot more effective at dealing with and detering crime than Y cops sitting on their backsides looking at computer screens. Even if Y is greate
Re:force of nature/government (Score:2)
And where are you from? I got the impression from the opening that you might be an American, but clearly you haven't lived there in some time, at the least...
Re:force of nature/government (Score:2)
I think he was trolling. It’s not too often that someone says, with a straight face, that they’re sure those nice government folks will relinquish newly granted powers once some crisis or other passes. And if they do say that with a straight face, they probably toked their way through history class.
Re:What do you do about it? I'm really curious.. (Score:2)
Hah! I'll just bet you do ... you freaking narc you. Everyone knows the Euro-people don't have to put up with this kind of shit - they have privacy laws over there...
Re:Cash (Score:2)
Not entirely - not in small amounts. Fact is that any amount of cash worth talking about is - like weed, and drugs, and guns, and an ice cream cone in your back pocket on Sunday - a crime to possess lacking some especial dispensation from the poticians and law enforcement [that is: The Corporations] - which dispensation means that your privacy has been violated de facto. Selective enforcement is the game here...
Cash has traditionally been anonymous, and ano