FBI May Have Datamined Grocery Stores With Help From Credit Companies

An anonymous reader writes "Recent media reports indicate that in 2005-06, the FBI went trawling through grocery store records in order to track down Iranian terror cells. They hoped to locate 'Middle-Eastern terrorists' through the purchase of specific food items. Many of these items, though, are not sold through big-box supermarket chains, and the majority of mom and pop ethnic markets do not have the detailed computer purchase histories that Safeway or Whole Foods have. What the FBI seems to have done is instead put together a list of everyone who shopped at a Middle Eastern food market. All signs point to the credit card companies providing this data, and not the individual stores. If so, this could be the tip of a (potentially illegal) data-mining iceberg."

Comments

Re:Reality

[hlomas]

Well obviously they are a major threat, but they haven't been throwing airliners into major structures lately. I was simply pointing out that that is why they were choosing middle eastern food markets as opposed to, say, Latin food marts. I don't necessarily agree that it is wise or believe that it will achieve positive results. But there is a reason that it was middle easterners.

Re:Alienation

[davidsyes]

Look, mofos! To rid ourselves of the racist, expansionist, squatter) timeline to what we face now, why don't we just strive to build a time machine and go back and wipe out two mofos who are part of the problem:

-- Archimedes
-- columbus (NO, I WON'T proper-case his name)

1. Set back Archimedes since his works enabled some people hundreds of years later to cowardly-like flee their corrupt monarchy/rule (rather than fighting it tooth and nail to the death to rid themselves of the current corruption, rather than fleeing and leaving it for the remainders)

2. Wipe out columbus' ass to prevent him from raping, plundering and marauding the Americas. Since he didn't figure out how to prevent scurvy, and many in his crew died anyway, what would be the loss if someONE could go back and wipe his ass out, maybe show him the future and what his "exploration" (based on theft/improper appropriation of Chinese charts and maps of which he wholly lacked the skills to produce himself; and his lying to the Vatican, which got him ill-deserved funding) caused to peoples.

Colonizing the the "Americas"

-- introduced disease and famine that killed MILLIONS (I know, I know, I read that Incas and Mayans self-destructed)

-- accelerated the destruction of MILLIONS of people and HUNDREDS of tribes, arguably destroyed long before "their time"

-- created a demand for slavery for the tobacco market

-- gave rise to the birth of one heinous Mathew Galbraith Perry, who went on to imperialistically shock (or further jolt) Japan out of its inward-looking isolationist policy (well, I admit, Japan also attacked parts of China and repeatedly struck Corea/Korea), with his -do business with us (the USA) or ELSE, on behalf of those who wanted to keep in check any European incursion into Asia

I submit that had Japan not been so shocked by the first-hand witnessing of US industrial might, Japan might have not developed (or further developed) its "Asia for Asians, save Asia by OUR hand alone" militaristic expansion.

But, then a defenseless Asia might not have been able to protect itself from Dutch and other European hijacking of oilfields in ASIAN waters/territory...

Now, doe this rant wake up any of those who think the continental USA is for US (anglo, judeo-christians?) ONLY? Earth is a huge exploratorium/playground to be shared by ALL who live on it, not isolated for just the elite or powerful or paranoid.

It's lame-ass territorialism that's making life here a drudgery for the unfed/underfed, politically imprisoned, and the fodder in uniform fighting on OTHER PEOPLE's lands on behalf of assholes in power back home.