Privacy is under assault by multiple players on multiple fronts and Privacy is getting its ass kicked. These players include various government agencies such as the NSA and the IRS. The IRS will give you your tax refund faster if you provide them with your bank account information. Large corporations like Facebook (pun intended), Google, financial companies, etc are all players in the assault on privacy. Even small companies like my optometrist and management of apartment complexes want my e-mail address. Technologies like credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, etc want my e-mail address, keep track of my purchasing habits, and try to entice us to let them in exchange for convenience. Convenience is insidious. For example this evening I started to reach for my phone to look up a recipe, thought about privacy and reached for my paper cookbook instead. I am under no illusion using a paper cookbook instead of an electronic device will protect my privacy, but thinking about the privacy ramifications of our every day actions and changing what we do will help our privacy far more than any law.
The only way for data to be safe from government or commercial invasion of privacy is make sure the data does not exist in the first place. Almost nobody will make the sacrifices required to make that happen, but everyone can reduce their digital footprint. Leave your cell phone powered off when you don't need it, purchase items at a physical store with cash when practical, stop using social media, and dozens of other things. I still have direct deposit, still pay my monthly bills online, and a number of other things because not doing so would provide little in additional privacy and cause significant hassle for me. Each person needs to find their own balance between convenience and privacy. I'm still finding the balance which is right for me.
It seems to me an easy way to kill the kill switch is for some patriot at the DHS (I'm sure there are a few) to flip the "internet kill switch" to the "on" position in the middle of a weekday. I suspect it would be dismantled shortly after that.
One way to protect ourselves from this sort of thing (at least for a while) is to stop using many convenient technologies. The more stories about government surveillance I read, the less technology I use. So far it is little things like leaving my cell phone turned off most of the time, using cash instead of debit cards, not shopping online, etc. Most importantly I now think about leaving a digital footprint and privacy any time I use technology. The NSA does not have god-like powers and I will not give up trying to enforce my privacy. As side benefit there is less of a digital footprint for marketing companies and criminals to use against me.
I support repealing all gun laws. The consequences of repealing all gun laws will create the possibility of repealing the 2nd amendment, which is where the real problem is.
You can't fire or "not hire" somebody for doing something perfectly legal that has nothing to do with the job, if it isn't happening on the job.
Incorrect. More and more companies are refusing to hire tobacco users. I believe it SHOULD be illegal to not hire someone for doing something entirely legal, but that is not the law.
The NSA does both targeted and non-targeted surveillance. In non-targeted surveillance the NSA simply vacuums up as much data as they can in the hope it will be useful some day. I think we can protect ourselves from much this non-targeted surveillance without taking extreme measures such as removing yourself from society and living off the grid. I have made many small changes in my life to reduce my electronic footprint and encrypt more of my data. Google, Amazon, etc can also take steps to help prevent this kind of surveillance.
In targeted surveillance the NSA wants to surveil a specific person. There is little you can do to prevent this kind of surveillance. It might be possible to slow them down a little, but eventually you will make a mistake and they will get you. The only possible way to avoid this is to not be seen as a threat.
Lifetime imprisonment is the more humane option in most cases [...]
I've never understood statements like the one above. How exactly is locking someone up for 60+ years going to cause less misery than dying? Thinking dying is the worst which can happen shows a lack of imagination.
If I am walking down a sidewalk with my gf and they ask for my ID, I can say the polite version of "fuck off", and they can't do a damn thing because they have no probable cause and I am not required to possess any identification. All I have to do is give them my name.
I guess you don't live in New York City or maybe you live in NYC and are white and don't have to deal with stop-and-frisk
Which camp are you with? The one who expects the uninsured to die in the streets because they can't afford care or the one which expects hospitals to treat the uninsured and pass the cost onto people with insurance?
Many people can't afford car insurance, but most people don't seem to have a problem with that "individual mandate". If you drive a car you WILL eventually get into an accident and need insurance. If you are alive you WILL eventually get sick and need insurance.
People who switch to e-cigs *have* quit smoking if you define smoking as inhaling the toxic brew of chemicals, tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine resulting from burning tobacco leaves. They have not quit nicotine, of course, but that is a different issue. The vapor from e-cigs should be thought as steam containing nicotine. I have gone from about 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day to about 1.5 packs of cigarettes per week by using e-cigs to feed my nicotine addiction. E-cigs can be significantly cheaper than smoking tobacco, especially in places with high tobacco taxes.
I think the unreasonable part is the wholesale tracking of large numbers of people without cause. In the past our privacy rights were protected only because it was not feasible to track everyone. Efficient government where every department shares data with every other department (and many private companies) scares the hell out of me. I like government, it does many many critically important things. However, I do not trust the government.
I wish someone at the NSA would pull the PRISM data for every member of congress, all federal judges, the supreme court judges, newspaper/television reporters and release the information to the public. It is just meta data, nothing important or privacy violating.
I hope the law enforcement agencies pay for this service and not the postal service. One reason all this surveillance is happening is because it is so darn cheap to do bulk surveillance. I wonder if one way to reduce surveillance is to make it more expensive.
The Nordic countries seem pretty good, as does Switzerland. I don't have a significant problem regarding searches with a warrant. There is generally some judicial oversight and a way to get any evidence thrown out if the warrant is deemed invalid upon review. My issue is searches without a warrant.
Wouldn't the solution to "the e-mail problem" be to store your e-mail in a country with decent privacy protections and access it using SSL/TLS? It won't won't prevent the US government from accessing your e-mail if they really want to, but it is a start.
This stuff will continue to be exposed to the internet and not secured until the cost of securing it is less than the cost to leave it unsecured. Likely this will happen when there are widespread nasty attacks against exposed systems which cause significant real world problems.
Many diseases such as Parkinsons, breast cancer, cystic fibrosis are caused by one of several mutations, some of which already have medication available to treat. Some people have mutations which make some medications cause major side effects. Fast sequencing would eliminate much trial and error in treatment of many conditions.
Many of the Mexican sodas (imported) available in the USA use regular sugar. Also, the "Throwback" line from Mtn Dew uses regular sugar. I never thought there was a difference until I accidentally bought a Mtn Dew Throwback and wondered why it tasted to clean and crisp until I looked carefully at the bottle and ingredients.
Slashdot Mirror
If a bank can't keep their SSL cert up to date why should you trust them with your money?
Privacy is under assault by multiple players on multiple fronts and Privacy is getting its ass kicked. These players include various government agencies such as the NSA and the IRS. The IRS will give you your tax refund faster if you provide them with your bank account information. Large corporations like Facebook (pun intended), Google, financial companies, etc are all players in the assault on privacy. Even small companies like my optometrist and management of apartment complexes want my e-mail address. Technologies like credit cards, debit cards, loyalty cards, etc want my e-mail address, keep track of my purchasing habits, and try to entice us to let them in exchange for convenience. Convenience is insidious. For example this evening I started to reach for my phone to look up a recipe, thought about privacy and reached for my paper cookbook instead. I am under no illusion using a paper cookbook instead of an electronic device will protect my privacy, but thinking about the privacy ramifications of our every day actions and changing what we do will help our privacy far more than any law.
Sounds reasonably easy to test using a look-alike flying through US airspace.
The only way for data to be safe from government or commercial invasion of privacy is make sure the data does not exist in the first place. Almost nobody will make the sacrifices required to make that happen, but everyone can reduce their digital footprint. Leave your cell phone powered off when you don't need it, purchase items at a physical store with cash when practical, stop using social media, and dozens of other things. I still have direct deposit, still pay my monthly bills online, and a number of other things because not doing so would provide little in additional privacy and cause significant hassle for me. Each person needs to find their own balance between convenience and privacy. I'm still finding the balance which is right for me.
It seems to me an easy way to kill the kill switch is for some patriot at the DHS (I'm sure there are a few) to flip the "internet kill switch" to the "on" position in the middle of a weekday. I suspect it would be dismantled shortly after that.
Does Europe not have noise canceling headphones or foam earplugs?
One way to protect ourselves from this sort of thing (at least for a while) is to stop using many convenient technologies. The more stories about government surveillance I read, the less technology I use. So far it is little things like leaving my cell phone turned off most of the time, using cash instead of debit cards, not shopping online, etc. Most importantly I now think about leaving a digital footprint and privacy any time I use technology. The NSA does not have god-like powers and I will not give up trying to enforce my privacy. As side benefit there is less of a digital footprint for marketing companies and criminals to use against me.
I support repealing all gun laws. The consequences of repealing all gun laws will create the possibility of repealing the 2nd amendment, which is where the real problem is.
Incorrect. More and more companies are refusing to hire tobacco users. I believe it SHOULD be illegal to not hire someone for doing something entirely legal, but that is not the law.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/us/11smoking.html
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/health/UPenn-Health-System-to-Stop-Hiring-Tobacco-Users-191852991.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-01-03/health-care-jobs-no-smoking/52394782/1
The NSA does not have godlike powers.
The NSA does both targeted and non-targeted surveillance. In non-targeted surveillance the NSA simply vacuums up as much data as they can in the hope it will be useful some day. I think we can protect ourselves from much this non-targeted surveillance without taking extreme measures such as removing yourself from society and living off the grid. I have made many small changes in my life to reduce my electronic footprint and encrypt more of my data. Google, Amazon, etc can also take steps to help prevent this kind of surveillance.
In targeted surveillance the NSA wants to surveil a specific person. There is little you can do to prevent this kind of surveillance. It might be possible to slow them down a little, but eventually you will make a mistake and they will get you. The only possible way to avoid this is to not be seen as a threat.
I've never understood statements like the one above. How exactly is locking someone up for 60+ years going to cause less misery than dying? Thinking dying is the worst which can happen shows a lack of imagination.
I guess you don't live in New York City or maybe you live in NYC and are white and don't have to deal with stop-and-frisk
http://www.nyclu.org/issues/racial-justice/stop-and-frisk-practices
Which camp are you with? The one who expects the uninsured to die in the streets because they can't afford care or the one which expects hospitals to treat the uninsured and pass the cost onto people with insurance?
Many people can't afford car insurance, but most people don't seem to have a problem with that "individual mandate". If you drive a car you WILL eventually get into an accident and need insurance. If you are alive you WILL eventually get sick and need insurance.
People who switch to e-cigs *have* quit smoking if you define smoking as inhaling the toxic brew of chemicals, tar, carbon monoxide, and nicotine resulting from burning tobacco leaves. They have not quit nicotine, of course, but that is a different issue. The vapor from e-cigs should be thought as steam containing nicotine. I have gone from about 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day to about 1.5 packs of cigarettes per week by using e-cigs to feed my nicotine addiction. E-cigs can be significantly cheaper than smoking tobacco, especially in places with high tobacco taxes.
I think the unreasonable part is the wholesale tracking of large numbers of people without cause. In the past our privacy rights were protected only because it was not feasible to track everyone. Efficient government where every department shares data with every other department (and many private companies) scares the hell out of me. I like government, it does many many critically important things. However, I do not trust the government.
I wish someone at the NSA would pull the PRISM data for every member of congress, all federal judges, the supreme court judges, newspaper/television reporters and release the information to the public. It is just meta data, nothing important or privacy violating.
I thought plan B was for them to hit you with a $2 wrench until you tell them your encryption key?
I hope the law enforcement agencies pay for this service and not the postal service. One reason all this surveillance is happening is because it is so darn cheap to do bulk surveillance. I wonder if one way to reduce surveillance is to make it more expensive.
It is time to allow multiple cables into a home. There is simply no excuse for allowing one company to control cable access.
We tried that already. http://www.newswise.com/images/uploads/2009/08/26/Broadway%20and%20John%20St%20Manhattan%201890.jpg
Truecrypt for Android would be awesome.
The Nordic countries seem pretty good, as does Switzerland. I don't have a significant problem regarding searches with a warrant. There is generally some judicial oversight and a way to get any evidence thrown out if the warrant is deemed invalid upon review. My issue is searches without a warrant.
Wouldn't the solution to "the e-mail problem" be to store your e-mail in a country with decent privacy protections and access it using SSL/TLS? It won't won't prevent the US government from accessing your e-mail if they really want to, but it is a start.
This stuff will continue to be exposed to the internet and not secured until the cost of securing it is less than the cost to leave it unsecured. Likely this will happen when there are widespread nasty attacks against exposed systems which cause significant real world problems.
You missed one: They will die if they stay on Earth. It is simply a matter of exactly when, not if.
Many diseases such as Parkinsons, breast cancer, cystic fibrosis are caused by one of several mutations, some of which already have medication available to treat. Some people have mutations which make some medications cause major side effects. Fast sequencing would eliminate much trial and error in treatment of many conditions.
Many of the Mexican sodas (imported) available in the USA use regular sugar. Also, the "Throwback" line from Mtn Dew uses regular sugar. I never thought there was a difference until I accidentally bought a Mtn Dew Throwback and wondered why it tasted to clean and crisp until I looked carefully at the bottle and ingredients.