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Don't Worry, We're Not From The Government
PolarBear3 writes "It seems that MSNBC.com is reporting that the government (U.S.) is looking to the private sector to data mine against it's [citizens|terrorists] since they are prevented by law from doing so themselves. Two quotes: 'People in the government, very much so in the Justice Department, have been playing out a lust for information that is not consistent with who we have been as a nation' & 'A range of laws limits how government can collect and use information on its citizens. The private sector, by contrast, operates under fewer restrictions.' Seems to show a nation fighting itself."
This is sadly VERY OLD news... a huge firm in FL doing it ages (gigantic cross referenced system, including "6 degree-of seperation telephone "buddy" connections) and addresses etc.
They first started doing it for the CIA.
They have huge amounts of hard drive storage and lots of programmers.
now they sell to all big brother agencies... to SPY on americans on a per-lookup action.
The us is just "buying access"not administering the sickeningly complete database (all utility bills, all credit card transactions, all bank accounts, all phone call records (including local, etc etc)
I told you guys on slashdot about RFID transmitters in tires a complete year ago and everyone called me a liar until finally all the truth came out (the us gov to track car movement by RFIDs in tores at canadian borders and on I-75 and in bay area california).
I will not reveal the FLA corp. BUT its a fact... semi-first hand knowledge.
This seems to be of dubious legality.
If government is prohibited by law from gathering this sort of intelligence for itself, using information gathered by others seems a flimsy defense against the law. If an FBI agent, paid by the government, snoops around it's illegal. But if a grocery store, paid by the government, gives you the info it is legal? I don't buy it.
Every credit card application I get in the mail has a little check box and requires my signature: "I authorize ----- to check my credit record and verify the information provided on this application....." So if companies can't check my credit rating w/o my approval, how is the government going to get it, as the article suggests?
This is a weak end-run around existing legal protections. While I would like to think that when the next airplane explodes in a huge ball of flame the citizenry will say "Wait! You told us we gave up our freedoms for protection. If you can't do that, we at least want to be able to fly unmolested!" But I fear all we'll hear is a government cry of "See? We've saved you from everything up to this, but we need more information to stop these attacks in the future." and the people will say "Ok, if you say so."
The Republicans are distracting everyone from their machinations by beating up on Iraq. The Democrats are meekly going along with it in some misguided attempt to "show support for our troops" when any idiot could tell you the best way to support the troops is to send them back home where there aren't people shooting at them, and spend that war money sending their kids to better schools.
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
I am.
I know we have some dodgy stuff going on here as well but at least our privacy legislation is far more developed over here. Particularly with respect to an individuals rights over the data kept on them.
We also have a government and judicary who is more likely to take on and prosecute big business than in the US. If you want to see some examples (relating to food safety) then read Fast Food Nation to see how big business in the US can literally get away with murder or occasionally have to pay a ridiculously small fine...
I don't understand why it is that when a company enters into a work contract they are not held to the same standards of the employer.
-= alphaFlight =-
This study was really one of those government-funded studies that's always in progress. They just send some guys out to buy the same exact products from several stores in local communities. The big news in the last couple of years is that prices at stores (in my area) like FoodMax and Publix are, on the whole, about 30% cheaper than prices at Kroger or Food Lion. Even the discount savings using the card only knocks off about 10% of the average total bill.
(I do not have the data to back this up; these numbers are recalled to the best of my memory. This means that the best this post can do is get you to think about it and investigate it. I've already done so for myself, and I've made my decision about it. I only use my store cards to purchase alcohol and condoms.)
The US government has been doing this for decades.
Furthermore, the US government has been outsourcing all sorts of stuff to the private sector in order to get around certain "issues". For an interesting segue, check out a company called Dyncorp. These guys are the ones in the jungles of S. America fighting the drug war (to get around stuff like Iran Contra), taking care of police action in Bosnia, and guarding Hamid Karzai. Interesting stuff, because from the coverage, you might suspect that these guys are American soldiers. They're not.
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right this minute I am working on a program for a professor that is doing work with UNL on datamining weather and drought information. She has been contacted by the NSA, they are interested in her datamining techniques for tracking terrorist activity. Crazy stuff.
Sir Timbly of Cannatuna, offical Knight of the Heptagonal Table