U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info

U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info 181

Posted by timothy on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:25AM from the someone-call-will-rogers-about-that-payment-thing dept.

infosec_spaz writes "According to a news story on Yahoo! News, the U.S. Government has spent US$30 million in the last year on buying citizens' personal phone records from online brokers...The very ones who Congress is trying to put out of business." From the Article:"Congressional investigators estimated the U.S. government spent $30 million last year buying personal data from private brokers. But that number likely understates the breadth of transactions, since brokers said they rarely charge law enforcement agencies any price." "So...who is getting all of BellSouth, SBC(AT&T) and other phone records?"

U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info

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Makes me proud to be British (Score:5, Funny)

by damburger ( 981828 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:28AM (#15569032)

Silly American government, spending taxpayers money buying personal data...

Our government *sells* personal data, saving the taxpayer money! [theregister.co.uk]

Bad News... (Score:3, Funny)

by Gibberx ( 631490 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:31AM (#15569056)

This is pretty bad news for fugitives who want a FREE XBOX 360*!!!

That's why I hide everything by ... (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:31AM (#15569061)

I use CASH for alll transactions
I take a different route every time I go somewhere
I use different public pay phones all the time
I use random public WiFi hotspots
I don't use the Internet
I don't surf Slashdot
I don't use electricity
I don't have any artificial fibers in my clothing
I am a mountain man, my wild plant eating skills are unsurpassed
And finally...
I drink Budwiser, the king of beers for paranoid people

Again showing industry more efficient than govt (Score:4, Funny)

by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:32AM (#15569063)

If the government had done the spying themselves, it would probably have cost $30 *BILLION*. Kudos to them for spending our taxpayer $$ wisely!
-Eric

So what? (Score:5, Funny)

by Jah-Wren Ryel ( 80510 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:33AM (#15569074)

I don't really care if the government wants to find out how to better target their product advertisements. In fact, I prefer it because it should reduce the number advertisements that I have to watch for government products that I am not interested in.

Doh!

Vote GOP! (Score:4, Funny)

by dsgitl ( 922908 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:36AM (#15569103)

This is why I love the conservative philosophy of government! They're the guys that respect privacy and limited government intrustion! Illegally gathering my phone records and then selling them to the government? Sounds good to me!

Basically, so long as fags can't marry, I'm 100 percent happy with my country right now.

they could have gotten it a lot cheaper ... (Score:5, Funny)

by tomhudson ( 43916 ) writes: <barbara,hudson&barbara-hudson,com> on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:42AM (#15569165) Journal

I'm sure there's someone (probably LOTS of "soneones") in the .ru domain that could have sold all sorts of info to them for much, much less less - and it would be more up-to-date.

Re:That's why I hide everything by ... (Score:5, Funny)

by nog_lorp ( 896553 ) * writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:43AM (#15569171)

You fool. You don't even realize what we put in Budwiser.

If the government wants to buy my phone record (Score:5, Funny)

by spidergoat2 ( 715962 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:47AM (#15569199) Journal

I can give them a better deal that the folks they're buying it from now. It's always fresher if you get it straight from the source.

Re:Yahoo! News is as news as slashdot (Score:3, Funny)

by EraserMouseMan ( 847479 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @10:54AM (#15569255)

Plus if all they spent was 30m I'd be surprised if they actually ended up with anything. It costs 30m just for the government to start thinking about something. Much less actually get something done.

I have a brilliant idea (Score:1, Funny)

by weird7192 ( 926866 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @11:14AM (#15569448)

just set up a Myspace like social networking website! That way they'll get more personal info on US citizens than they can possibly dream of and it'll all be for FREE! Why haven't they thought of doing this..

Slashdot: A 14 year old girl sues Myspace for $30 million for failing to protect her personal details from access by unverified individuals.

ummm maybe it's not such a good idea

Re:And this is why ... (Score:2, Funny)

by ogma ( 755652 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @11:53AM (#15569773)

You have already lost to terrorism, time to stop pretending you still care about those constitutional protections and just roll over.

Surely you meant bend over?

Re:Pardon my language, but... (Score:5, Funny)

by Asphalt ( 529464 ) writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @12:11PM (#15569947)

What the fuck? What the fucking fuck?
Must your analysis of the situation be so technical?

Re:The problem isn't the government.... (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Tuesday June 20, 2006 @06:21PM (#15572737)

Not my ex-husband, I left him broke! LOLOL!

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U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info 181

U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info More Login

U.S. Gov't Spent $30M On Citizens' Personal Info

Makes me proud to be British (Score:5, Funny)

Bad News... (Score:3, Funny)

That's why I hide everything by ... (Score:5, Funny)

Again showing industry more efficient than govt (Score:4, Funny)

So what? (Score:5, Funny)

Vote GOP! (Score:4, Funny)

they could have gotten it a lot cheaper ... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:That's why I hide everything by ... (Score:5, Funny)

If the government wants to buy my phone record (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Yahoo! News is as news as slashdot (Score:3, Funny)

I have a brilliant idea (Score:1, Funny)

Re:And this is why ... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Pardon my language, but... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:The problem isn't the government.... (Score:1, Funny)

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