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The Searchable Life
oni writes "Here's a story on wired about a Pentagon project called LifeLog. It seeks to record every bit of information that can be had, index it by name, or SSN, or even location, and make the database searchable. Furthermore, '[LifeLog adds] physical information (like how we feel) and media data (like what we read) to this transactional data.'" If you think you can build such a system, apply for a grant. There's also a current AP story about Total Information Awareness.
The government is still trying to live our lives for us and protect us from ourselves...
There's a growing sense that even if The Future comes,
most of us won't be able to afford it.
-- Lemmy
I have my privacy to "hide". Reveal every detail of your life if you choose - but respect my freedom to do otherwise. The U.S. is a free country, right?
Or did the terrorists win?
Galileo: "The Earth revolves around the Sun!"
Score: -1 100% Flamebait
Mao, Stalin or Hitler would weep with joy at the thought of such complete and total control over the individual. And make no mistake about it, in order to have complete control over each and every one of us it is necessary to have knowledge. Knowledge really is power and total knowledge of every aspect of your life is an important step in the governments ability to completely control you. Those civil liberties or those freedoms you thought belonged to you will eventually be crushed under the weight of the governments need to know. The Patriot Act, Total Information Awareness, Lifelog- welcome to your 1984/Brave New World.
Enjoy your Karma, after all you earned it. Feel your Karma Joe, feel it burn.
Haven't Experian and all those other credit report asswipes been doing this for years?
Initially this is true, of course. And in a perfect world, this will ALWAYS be true. In a perfect world, open source lives would be ideal, since no one would exploit others. No one would be a lazy burden to the rest by not doing his/her fair share.
We don't anywhere near perfect (to quote one of those stupid car commercials), so just because you have nothing to hide, it does not mean that you cannot be exploited. Sure, the chances are slim, but there is that chance. And, if something has any chance to happen, it will happen eventually.
Now, I am not saying this is or isn't evil... I am just saying that claiming that the reason people are against somethning is because they have something to hide really isn't a very solid arguement.
-John
"The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing and hoping for different results"
to describe how EVIL these people are.
They make SATAN look like Mr. Rogers.
I hope that someone puts not only a stop to this now, but puts an end to this reign of digital terror.
This can not be allowed to continue.
George Orwell was pretty much right, but he underestimated the depths that this would sink to.
I am currently researching the state of affairs in other countries because I just can not live in a country where you are a piece of meat.
You are born to be a good little consumer. You may not question the party line. You slave away to generate revenue for the state so that the state can grow more powerful. ALL of your income goes towards purchasing disposable crap and taxes.
You are not allowed to own anything that will last long enough to pass on to your kids. And when you die, the state takes most of your income in inheritence taxes.
Can you say "coppertop" ????
"The technology could allow the military to develop computerized assistants for war fighters and commanders that can be more effective because they can easily access the user's past experiences," DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker speculated in an e-mail.
It also could allow the military to develop more efficient computerized training systems, she said: Computers could remember how each student learns and interacts with the training system, then tailor the lessons accordingly.
Fine. So limit its scope to include only those enlisted in the military. I see no reason whatsoever for anyone at all, much less the Pentagon, to have a record of everything I've ever bought or everyone I've ever emailed or called on a phone.
the coolest club on
"Total Information Awareness" or the anacronym "TIA" is coincidentally or purposefully the Spanish word for aunt. "Tia" looks more like a meddling spinster aunt with nothing better to do than peruse our collective sock drawers.
This is another way the American people have been victimized by 9-11. It gives an opportunity for the people who would like to strip us of our individual freedoms a stronger foothold using our own FEAR as the briquets.
This evil proposal will make U.S. citizens lives no longer private. Further, has anyone thought about how much "feeding" this informational behemoth will cost our already burdened people?
Harpo Tunnel Syndrome--my wrist feels funny.
Demographers can already do amazing things with small amounts of data. I once talked with one who was able to tell me a lot about my hobbies, my political beliefs, religion and personal life based on three or four simple questions about alcohol, music, and color preferences.
Intelligence analysis (the military sort) is based on getting all sorts of data down to the pictures in a wallet and making connections.
What they are doing here is automating the process and feeding it all the data about everyone. There has been some talk here about the enormous amounts of processing power, the huge databases and whatnot making it impossible. I'm not so confident. The data don't have to all be available at once. Just as long as they can be accessed and processed eventually.
When they are combined and the patterns teased out (which the above-mentioned disciplines already do very well) you can get a pretty accurate picture of the person. And know what sort of things that person likes or dislikes. Whom they are likely to associate with. Political leanings. Mental stability. And so on.
Not only privacy but free will are at risk. The propaganda or the interrogation techniques or so on can be individually and automatically tailored to you personally. In advance. And they will almost certainly work.
You can even tell a lot by lack of data. There will be patterns that people who tend not to show up much in the databases will fall into. What things they are hiding. Transactions that they are trying to hide. Likely associates. With so many data the lack of information is itself information. Sort of like the soldier whose military records consist of a rank, an entrance date, and a discharge date. You KNOW he was doing special operations and was probably on loan to Three Letter Agencies.
The man who never alters his opinion is like the stagnant water and breeds Reptiles of the Mind -- William Blake
...I don't WANT to remember that crazy bitch I went out with 2 years ago?!?
Checks and balances is the key.
I'm not American, but I believe this mantra means that at long as there's adequate supervision, extra government powers aren't so bad, right?
Supervision, "checks and balances" means that you, or your representatives should be able to say when a government organization is trying to grab powers that it doesn't need to do its job, that are totally gratuitious - and also possibly open to abuse.
Well, this is the fucking Pentagon (your department of war on other countries) that wants to have a complete database of every tiny little thing about American citizens. Which is so totally unrelated to their job, and so open to abuse, that it's precisely those checks and balances that should stop this, if they are still effective, right?
I believe posters are recognized by their sig. So I made one.
The information they will gather is stuff that is already publicly available. You don't have privacy, you have anonymity, and you have a right against unwarranted searches and seizure of your person and property. That's it.
You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
This is absolutely startling! Why would such a project even exist? This is simply a tool for spying on society. There would only be limited benefit (real world benefits) to a database like this; and it would only benefit the most corrupt segment of our society; the government. Judging by how the government has leveraged this sort of data in the past I would say this is moreover a tool to help incarcerate more people for ever smaller infractions. There would be no anonymity from your own government and that is not healthy to any segment of society. I would gladly waive my American citizenship if it came with the caveat that my entire life would be documented. I enjoy being and American for its freedoms. This stomps on that freedom from every angle!
"Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs" - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)
Until people get used to it, and then they make it so in order to apply for any job, you are required to sign a release form waiving your right to privacy, similar to the way companies can require drug testing today.
I can hear the speeches now, "If the government is aware of a risk in a potential employee, perhaps one that could present a dangerous situation to the other workers in the company, how can we not allow employers to ensure the safety of their employees by conducting a background test?"
Next thing you know, everyone gets an email telling them about the new condition in their work contract, and your boss is asking you into his office wondering why you recently bought a copy of "Resume Writing for Dummies."
And don't worry kids, it will remain confidental, just like the results of your drug test are confidental today.
Instead of me having to justify my life to the military, let the military justify everything it does to me (and all other US citizens).
Information is power. When the government has all information about its citizens, we have tyranny. When citizens have all information about the government, we have democracy.
What, you say? Then citizens will have access government secrets, and could harm our military defense by handing them over to our enemies. Well, I don't suppose the government (or some government official) would EVER hand over details of our life to people who want to harm us?
or, you might say ordinary citizens just aren't qualified to make decisions about national defense. These matters should be decided in secret, by qualified experts. Well, who has decided the Pentagon is qualified to judge my life? What gives the government the expertise to make decisions based on a database of individual's actions? After all this must be their intents for this information, they wouldn't just hoard it for the sake of having it?
"dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope"
So when they fuck up and mis-identify me as a terrorist and declare me an enemy combatant because I used to post to UseNet about drug use, never mind that I haven't touched the stuff in years, and take away my rights to challenge them in court, how exactly am I going to get any kind of "check" or "balance"?
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
You don't have privacy, you have anonymity
And the Supreme Court has said, time and time again, that a right to privacy is inherent to the Constitution, without which other rights couldn't be fully exercised.
I'll take the word of the Supreme Court over yours any day of the week.
Max
My god carries a hammer. Your god died nailed to a tree. Any questions?