Bringing Echelon In From the Cold

An anonymous reader writes: "UPI columnist James C. Bennett says that governments are going to spy no matter what. So he suggests that it would be better to admit that Echelon exists, and formulate some reasonable guidelines on such spying, than to pretend that it doesn't and let governments go about their business without any scrutiny. Interesting suggestion. But who will watch those watchers? And who will watch them? "

Comments

Re:Why does it matter?

[Bodrius]

Because throughout history almost every government has proven itself utterly uncapable of figuring out what information is relevant or not to identifying you as a threat.

They have this tendency to think that because someone reads a particular author, teaches or studies a particular subject, belongs to some demographic group or simply has friends/neighbors/relatives to whom any of the above apply, he or she is actively plotting against the government.

This happens most often in dictatorial regimes, but democracies are not immune, and the US has its history (cold war? remember?).

And then there are the times when they can't figure out that something is a joke. Like the FBI investigating bonsaikitten.com. I wonder if Tom Clancy is under constant surveillance...