DARPA Funds Internet Tracking Scheme

Lifewish writes "The BBC is reporting that company MetaCarta is receiving DARPA cash to design a new system for tracking individuals based on their electronic presence. One company official is quoted as saying that 'The government and international security agencies have a desire to find, track and sometimes arrest people. Our system can be used to find them across the globe.' If you ever wondered where all that information the U.S. is collecting ended up..."

Comments

We know who you are...

[Noryungi]

And we know you have been posting on Slashdot way too much.

Go back to work, you slacker. If you post too much on Slashdot, the terrorists will win!

--
This post has been brought to you by CitizenWatch(tm) a division of DARPA / Homeland Security.
"We watch because we care" (tm & sm).

Here is the tracking program

[adagioforstrings]

I got a copy of their program in my mailbox!!

Hello Everyone, And thank you for signing up for my Beta Email
Tracking Application or (BETA) for short. My name is MetaCarta.
Here at DARPA we have just compiled an e-mail tracing program
that tracks everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. It
does this through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log
book database.

We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this
to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on
the list you will receive $1000 and a copy of MetaCarta Geographic
Text Search at my expense.

Enjoy.

Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will be notified
by email with further instructions once this email has reached
1000 people. MetaCarta Geographic Text Search will not be shipped
until it has been released to the general public.

Your friend,
MetaCarta & DARPA

Nigerian friend

[savagedome]

So, now we would finally know where our Nigerian Spammer friend actually is.
I am going to forward MetaCarta guys a copy of my 419 Nigerian email right away. Brilliant!

Re:Tax payer's delight?

[Anonymous Coward]

We elected this government?

Outsourcing

[somethinghollow]

Why didn't they just give DoubleClick the bid? They already seem to have the tracking thing down.

Don't buy stock in Reynolds;

[Morologous]

Because they could find out that you're a non-conforming individual.

And don't buy your foil with a debit or credit card! Pay cash only, and don't use a loyalty card. Best to wear a disguise while you're at it. Too many cameras. Take the bus to the store, but don't redeem a bus ticket, use coins -- but only ones you've wiped down to remove fingerprints. And don't leave from your home, or your office; leave from a neutral public site! And whatever you do, don't look up. Those spy satellites could recognize your face if you do, and then it would be all in vain.

Pity the poor uninformed conspiricy theorist who wears his tinfoil hat to prevent mind-control but forgets all of the paper trail that he leaves when he buys his tinfoil.

Re:it hurts

[mangu]

Why the f*ck do I keep getting the lastest catalogue of penis enlargers?

Maybe because you wrote your penis dimensions in their form?

Re:If such a system were implemented

[ratamacue]

That is exactly why England's murder and violent crime rates have skyrocketed since the 1997 gun ban: (1) Criminals will always be able to obtain weapons, no matter what the law says, and (2) for the criminal, the ideal victim is the one who is unarmed or has no means of self-defense.

It follows that society is safer in general when every individual has the potential to be armed. Criminals don't even need to see the gun -- the fact that a victim MAY be armed is enough to make them think twice. "Tougher" laws and penalites for crime won't change a thing, because the law can't possibly address the need for immediate self-defense.

A similar situation has occurred in Washington, D.C. History has proven, time and time again, that gun "control" (restrictions on the individual's right to self-defense) actually increases, not decreases, the overall crime rate. Of course, if you ask me, that is exactly what government wants. (The higher the crime rate, the more "justification" for expanding the powers of government.)

Refer to this article for a good intro to this issue.

Finally!

[rm -rf /etc/*]

Now Bill Gates really will give me $100 for forwarding the email!