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Internet Giving Rise To "Citizen Spies"

Posted by Soulskill on from the bond-dot-jamesbond-dot-com dept.

reporter writes "According to a startling report by the Wall Street Journal, the Internet has empowered ordinary people to be part-time intelligence officers, uncovering secrets like military facilities and prison camps across the landscape of North Korea. The report states, '[Curtis] Melvin is at the center of a dozen or so citizen snoops who have spent the past two years filling in the blanks on the map of one of the world's most secretive countries. Seeking clues in photos, news reports and eyewitness accounts, they affix labels to North Korean structures and landscapes captured by Google Earth, an online service that stitches satellite pictures into a virtual globe. The result is an annotated North Korea of rocket-launch sites, prison camps and elite palaces on white-sand beaches. "It's democratized intelligence," says Mr. Melvin. More than 35,000 people have downloaded Mr. Melvin's file, North Korea Uncovered. It has grown to include thousands of tags in categories such as "nuclear issues" (alleged reactors, missile storage), dams (more than 1,200 countrywide) and restaurants (47). Its Wikipedia approach to spying shows how Soviet-style secrecy is facing a new challenge from the Internet's power to unite a disparate community of busybodies.'"

5 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. In Soviet Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Citizens spy on you?

    *ducks*

    1. Re:In Soviet Internet by Psyborgue · · Score: 2, Funny

      Bah. The government has nothing to hide. There is plenty of oversight. Trust them!

    2. Re:In Soviet Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      > You are a paranoid tin-foil hatter.

      You say that like its a bad thing....

  2. Oh Boy by cbs4385 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does this mean I get to act out my favorite moments from 24 on that creepily suspicious neighbor of mine, the one who speaks that foreigner lingo in with his so call family? I can't wait. Now where'd I put my home waterboarding kit...

  3. Re:Not _SPIES_, intel analysts by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Funny

    Still not a spy. The intelligence community has lots of members with different roles. Spies are the ones who go in and talk to the people. Unless you shake the hand of the enemy (or whatever their culture does), you're not a spy.

    Does it count if the enemy recoils in fear after feeling your metallic handshake?