All the information quoted in the article that people have dug up is publicly available anyway. If you want to make anyone's life a misery, get their phone number, publish it, post their address - and make sure to target geeks who think it's all very funny, so they'll get signed up for lots of mailings and badgered with phone calls. In cases like spamming the spammer, it's funny and appropriate. In cases like information awareness, making his address public is one step - harrassing him using those details is another thing entirely.
I mean, come on, they have access to all your information in case of need anyway. They can already subpoena banks, airlines, get your criminal records etc... so what if the FBI can access your records at any time? You think they're going to find it funny that you rent a pron video of animal action once a month? They're not even going to care... the local store clerk has far more chance of finding it funny. Having information accessible to governments is not a problem unless you're naughty.
If you seriously think that a central repository of information about you is so much worse than the chance of it doing good by catching criminals or terrorists, I personally think you're a dumbass. You think they're even going to look at your records unless the computer highlights something dodgy? You think that your credit card information will be published online for anyone to google? Yah.
If you don't trust those people who'll be working with the information, do something about it - lobby for better selection procedures, vote for someone else. If you think harassing somebody who rightly thinks it's a good anti-crime system is a good way of preventing the system occuring, ask yourself - who's it going to help?
I have this insane vision of you getting a biplane next to this massive Boeing, leaning over with a stick of chalk and scawling symbols on th plane as pilots frantically call air traffic control about a possible hijacking...
Hah, for a second I typed 'Boeing' there as 'Boing'. Kinda... fits.
Well, on those really long flights - transatlantic, or to western asia from where I am - I can imagine that it'd be slightly more entertaining than the in-flight movies.
The logical next step would be for them to offer charging points so people can actually use their laptops for a fair amount of time. And I don't really see equipment like this interfering with the airplane... sure, something that can fly through electrical storms is going to go haywire and spiral down when I switch on my laptop. Sure.
But gawd, it's going to make sitting next to people infinitely worse. Not just tinny music from your neighbours... but pretending to look away as they visit pron sites, watching crappy powerpoint presentations being put together by businessmen... hmm, maybe I've got those the wrong way round.
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Single question - how often does this happen at banks?
I'd hope that military security would be a step better.
As for not very harmful - I'd consider having to change my home phone number harmful.
All the information quoted in the article that people have dug up is publicly available anyway. If you want to make anyone's life a misery, get their phone number, publish it, post their address - and make sure to target geeks who think it's all very funny, so they'll get signed up for lots of mailings and badgered with phone calls. In cases like spamming the spammer, it's funny and appropriate. In cases like information awareness, making his address public is one step - harrassing him using those details is another thing entirely.
I mean, come on, they have access to all your information in case of need anyway. They can already subpoena banks, airlines, get your criminal records etc... so what if the FBI can access your records at any time? You think they're going to find it funny that you rent a pron video of animal action once a month? They're not even going to care... the local store clerk has far more chance of finding it funny. Having information accessible to governments is not a problem unless you're naughty.
If you seriously think that a central repository of information about you is so much worse than the chance of it doing good by catching criminals or terrorists, I personally think you're a dumbass. You think they're even going to look at your records unless the computer highlights something dodgy? You think that your credit card information will be published online for anyone to google? Yah.
If you don't trust those people who'll be working with the information, do something about it - lobby for better selection procedures, vote for someone else. If you think harassing somebody who rightly thinks it's a good anti-crime system is a good way of preventing the system occuring, ask yourself - who's it going to help?
Wardriving at 30k feet...?
I have this insane vision of you getting a biplane next to this massive Boeing, leaning over with a stick of chalk and scawling symbols on th plane as pilots frantically call air traffic control about a possible hijacking...
Hah, for a second I typed 'Boeing' there as 'Boing'. Kinda... fits.
Well, on those really long flights - transatlantic, or to western asia from where I am - I can imagine that it'd be slightly more entertaining than the in-flight movies.
The logical next step would be for them to offer charging points so people can actually use their laptops for a fair amount of time. And I don't really see equipment like this interfering with the airplane... sure, something that can fly through electrical storms is going to go haywire and spiral down when I switch on my laptop. Sure.
But gawd, it's going to make sitting next to people infinitely worse. Not just tinny music from your neighbours... but pretending to look away as they visit pron sites, watching crappy powerpoint presentations being put together by businessmen... hmm, maybe I've got those the wrong way round.