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Latest Revelations on the FBI's Data Mining of America
An anonymous reader writes "You probably already knew that the FBI was data mining Americans in the "search" for potential terrorists, but did you know that they're also supposed to be looking for people in the U.S. engaged in criminal activity that is not really supposed to be the province of the federal government? Now the feds are alleged to be data mining for insurance fraudsters, identity thieves, and questionable online pharmacists. That's what they're telling us now. What else could they be looking for that they are not telling us about?"
People comiting "moral crimes".
They have a history of blackmail using that sort of thing.
Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
If they're able to form a behaviour pattern from that and provide it to the state law enforcement agencies the I say that it would be okay.
As long as the FBI removed any individual identifying info (names, aliases, addresses, etc). Even in their database.
Fuck you, Boyd. What is "lawfully acquired" varies with the laws passed. When a private person does it, we often refer to that as "stalking" and it is illegal.
There's never been a power given to a federal agency that its members haven't immediately sought to abuse. But the same goes for state, local, federal government of all stripes, insurance agencies, organized religions, etc. It's human nature. Power will be abused so it's just common sense to restrict it as much as possible.
When the FBI honchos go wringing their hands and lamenting over all the crimes they could have prevented if only they had more powers, the first question should be "why aren't you able to do your job with the resources you have?" Throw more money and more powers at the problem and you'll just get the same song and dance during the next budget hearing.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Pardon my conspiracy theory, but hasn't the government been spying on us, well, forever? Sure, legally it's a faux pas, but an "Echelon" type system must exist by now if it has not been with us since the dawn of the computer age. I say privacy is pretty much a thing of the past. Everyone wants everything NOW and WIRELESS. Pretty much in the next 10 years just about everything will be wireless. This means that a conversations/data will be able to be plucked out of the air by just about anyone (as is being done now.)
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
The FBI^W Gestapo is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
The FBI^W KGB is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
The FBI^W CIA is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
The FBI^W FBI is trying to find people breaking the law? This must be stopped!!!
There, fixed that for you, asshole.
The law is what "Big Brother" says it is. Try to pay attention, will you??
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
No, no.
Data mining does not necessarily mean that each and every data must be exact. Data mining is creating probability relationships in large populations.
There are mathematical and statistical methods where data can be obscured whilst the data mining still be accurate. Look up the field of privacy preserving data mining.
My point is that it is possible to data mine whilst preserving privacy. Privacy and benefits of data mining and not mutually exclusive.
I would argue that the vast majority of liberals in America aren't trying to push central planning aspects of socialism.
Not to mention the fact that data mining like this would be a pretty ineffective way to do it.
Yeah, insurance fraud, identity theft and questionable online pharmacies aren't matters for federal law enforcement, because they don't cross state li... oh, wait.
*plonk*
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Is that our lives are becoming more and more transparent to the government, but the government is becoming more and more opaque to us. This is the exact opposite of how it should be and should be a huge flashing warning light to everyone.
And by "big brother" you mean the local government representative YOU elected for your area to vote on issue like this for you.
We have no one to blame but ourselves for the way our governments act.
I know you're kidding, but prior to 9/11 the Justice Dept. did seem to be transforming itself into a federal vice squad, wiretapping a brothel in New Orleans and cracking down on medical marijuana clubs in California--clubs that state voters and local law enforcement approved. Their emphasis on "moral" crimes was unprecedented. I have no doubt medical marijuana clubs were a higher priority for the senior leadership than counterterrorism. In their minds, those dirty marijuana-toking, pornography-loving hippies *are* "the terrorists."
There is very little that you could say about this administration that I would find too insane to be plausible.
More on Ashcroft's Justice Dept. here.
And from recent testimony re: the NSA wiretapping it appears that Ashcroft was actually *less* disrespectful of the Constitution and rule of law than Gonzalez.
No, that's a completely false dichotomy. No matter how many restrictions you create on the government's power, if there is no oversight, they will disregard them entirely, without any repercussions.
Transparency is just one tool, and frankly, it's ridiculous to believe that transparency accomplishes anything on it's own.
Indeed. You need only look at the existing situation, where the public overwhelmingly disagrees with the administration, yet congress continues to go along with the administration, and completely fails to hold anyone accountable for even the most blatant legal violations, to see that our system of checks and balances doesn't work.
The culture of Washington, the two party system, etc., they all conspire to allow law breaking and corruption to continue unchallenged.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I think I can: if I recall correctly it was elected by Americans not only once but twice.....
Browsers shouldn't have a back button!! It's all about going forward...
He says the most dangerous criminals are government law enforcement agents.
You say you need police, and that they are a necessary evil.
Ok. So what's your disagreement with him exactly? He's not suggesting dismantling the police.
However the trend of giving them ever expanding power to make it easier and more efficient to catch criminals only sets us up for an abusive and corrupt haven for criminals that is effectively untouchable. But recognizing that means we need to keep their power in check... not dismantle them altogether. Its patently obvious that we need law enforcement. The question is what should they be allowed to do, and how do we ensure they only do what is allowed.
The modern Republican party is the result of Richard Nixon's conversion of old Southern Confederates from the Democratic party. This conversion was so successful that these Confederates now in fact form the Republican party base, and the party in turn has become a Confederate body.
The idea of the Republicans as the party of corporatism and big business is true to a degree, but only by degree in comparison to the Democrats or any other modern political party. Corporate influence permeates our political landscape too completely to distinguish party boundaries. Instead the true distinction between the Republicans and the Democrats is that old Confederate streak in the former, by now faded and disintegrating in the latter.
But in the GOP the stainless banner shines unsullied, albeit not in a public fashion. But it's a safe bet to assume that a great many in the Republican party hold the Confederate flag in no less reverence than they do the Stars and Stripes. Many have said that the Republicans are verging on, or have already committed, treason against their country. This may indeed be true, but only if that country was the old union. To a Confederate mind, their loyalty to the "true" United States is beyond question.
The effect of all this has been the general regression of American society. Essentially your entire country is reverting back to the southern mindset, but one for the modern world of course. Slavery might not be on the cards, but racism, xenophobia, jingoism, militarism and of course social conservatism all are.
The sad truth is there is little to nothing you can do to stop any of this. The American people have chosen this path. They vote for it, with ballots, feet and wallets. This isn't the result of some grand plan of Richard Nixon. He did not set any of this in motion. Rather he simply foresaw it, forty years ago, as he foresaw the rise of China and the end of the Gold Standard, and moved his party to a favorable position to take advantage of the inevitable flow of history.
May the Maths Be with you!
More on Ashcroft's Justice Dept
And this is the Ashcroft who ended up quiting because he wouldn't go along with wholesale spying on the American public. If someone like Ashcroft turns out to be a hero, what kind of atrocities are going on behind the scenes? It's all legal as far as Alberto is concerned.
What a horrible chapter in our nations history.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
I'm convinced you know the saying about being able to bring the donkey to the well but being unable to force him to drink.
You can't force people to learn. Education is free here up to university level and university fees are laughable compared to other countries (or would you consider about 500 bucks a semester crippling?). Still, we have the same consumerdrones. Decent, free education has no power against marketing.
Let's look at the role models our teenagers have today. You have American Idol (or the localized version thereof), where they learn that all that matters is looking cute (voice is secondary, praise to the computer). You have Big Brother, where they learn what matters is to be fun, easy-going, sociable and likable, and to brownnose to the ones that can throw you out, if you want to win. What it comes down is that success depends on being liked. Liked, in turn, depends on fitting in. Don't stick out, don't raise your voice, don't differ from the pack. Neither in appearance, action nor opinion. And you're liked and you're loved, and you succeed. And here's where marketing steps in and tells you you gotta wear this junk, eat that junk and be at this party to be liked and loved.
Education has no power against this message.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.