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Googling for CIA Agents
yali writes "As the heat turns up on the investigation into how an undercover CIA officer's identity was leaked to the press a technology columnist at the SF Chronicle, David Lazarus, shows how easy it is to identify individuals via the Internet. Even with little information, using widely available tools like Google and LexisNexis, it is possible to turn up startlingly relevant details." From the article: "I then went back to Google and got a map of Plame's neighborhood and directions to her home. Google also allowed me to study a high-resolution satellite photo of Plame's house. I could see that the property appears to be in a quiet residential community and looks approachable from all sides. It also offers ready access by car to major thoroughfares."
Nerds playing at being intelligence operatives. Cute.
She probably shouldn't have joined that "CIA Spooks Only" group at Google groups.
their wallet and jewelry box they could look for the "I am a certified spy" card and secret decoder ring.
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Did Google present some nice associated ad-links for James Bond cameras, trenchcoats, and Le Carre books while you were doing these searches?
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
What's his scare tactic for next week? How about "Did you know that your name and address are recorded in a privately-produced book that's located in every house and street corner in your town? For a city like New York, that's over 10 million copies of your private information."
the World Wide Web, the Information Super Highway
1990 called, they want their PR bullshit back...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
post David Lazarus address, phone number and google map coords? I'm interested in, uh, how accessible his house is by large van...
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
dlazarus(a t)sfchronicle.com
Mr. Lazarus,
I fail to see what you achieved that was ground-breaking. Given a name, you determined the name of the spouse? And then you found out where they live? Maybe I missed the point of your article.
Sincerely...
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
A house in a residential area? With easy access by car? And no moats or dragons near by? This must be some sort of top secret CIA house of the future!
Sensationalism at its finest.
-Peter
Likewise, I'd go to jail just the same if i was threatening the life of George Bush or the President of the United states.
Or, Laura Bush's husband.
I thought someone said there was going to be free beer!
I jsut googled for "CIA Agents" and got over 1.6 Million hits. That's a lot of agents.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
You attack his patriotism? I though that kind of mindless heat filled rhetoric was limited to the right. Evidentally not.
Part of the reason this story has legs is that Palme authorized (on her own) her husband to take a all expenses trip to Niger. Her husband lied later and said that Cheney sent him (and later backed up and said Scooter) and then backtracked off of that. At the very least that violates several nepotism clauses.
Dear God! The CIA has only been around for 58 years... that means there are 27,500 new agents each year. And with no known natural predators left post-USSR, they're reproducing like rabbits. What ever shall we do?