Slashdot Mirror
Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases?
Anonymous Nerd writes "I was looking at Fox News today and came accross this gem of a story . It seems the Pentagon wishes to create a massive database of every transaction made in America. I wonder how they plan to track purchases made with cash?"
I wonder how they plan to track purchases made with cash?
Outlaw cash transactions..... Credit Card/Debit from now on only.. or else the terrrorist have won (tm).
(just a joke...)
then the right thing isn't necessarily to pay cash, or barter or start your own currency. Jam there databases with useless information. Buy paper towels and toilet paper with cash, subscribe to 2600 with your credit card. Leaving no trace isn't realistic for most people, even if you only use cash chances are you withdrew that cash from a bank, or a bank cashed your check. Instead concentrate on leaving a wide swath of purchases that indicate you're a "subversive" for them to discover when they mine their data.
Chris Kuivenhoven is a thief, beware
see also the "Scientia Est Potentia" ("Knowledge Is Power") article at kuro5hin.org. It's been there for two days already. It covers the same story, but without the anonymous coward troll comments.
Most terrorists will use credit cards and checks without a second thought. Most necessary purchases for any terrorist can be placed without giving the slightest indication of terrorism such as gasoline, nails, backpacks, household ammonia, hexamine, car batteries, SUVs, glassware, growth media, gas masks, firecrackers, food, shelter, and prostitutes. Most of what would be tracked could be easily stolen from a low security University laboratory, libraries, by killing the owners of a gun shop (tricky), hospitals, stealing large trucks, or by killing Air Marshalls and taking their guns. Terrorists can easily build a scrapnel bomb or a culture of bacteria with less than a thousand dollars and perhaps a trip to the laboratory. The terrorists already have the policing under control, its you citizens who don't.
Fox News can go to hell.
This is related, I believe: http://www.aclu.org/Cyber-Liberties/Cyber-Libertie s.cfm?ID=11332&c=58
--Ben
The Total Information Awareness program will not, in fact, gather any information. Nor will it change who gets to see the information that the government already collects nor how long that information is maintained. All that this program is, is a way to gather together the information that the government already collects, in a form where data can be mined between elements which are currently not linkable. The press is getting it wrong, as usual, and the rash posters on slashdot are taking the press, oddly, at their words, then putting on the tinfoil hats and heading off into conspiracy theory heaven.
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
they won't be tracking most of my purchases - i left america back in 1998 when i realised far too many of my fellow citizens were spending far too much time discussing clinton's penis and not nearly enough time paying attention to laws like the dmca and dozens of others. or the widening gap between rich and poor. or dealing honestly and constructively with the multitude of injustices in american society. or seriously working on environmental, health and waste issues.
instead, people were more interested in clinton's penis, the amazing efficiency of private industry (how efficient were they really?), and buying suv's.
no one was all that interested in protecting freedom - maybe their pet freedoms but no one elses.
as far as i can see, things haven't changed much.
and actually, come to think of it, the us gov't does track a lot of my activity. eschelon is alive and well and has been for years. sounds like domestic american citizens will be getting a taste of what the rest of the world has gotten. if it feels invasive and wrong, keep in mind that unlike the rest of the world you guys have a say.
but as usual, you're not saying much.
US Citizen living abroad? Register to vote!