To say that you do not care about this and to acknowledge that this is not a new problem are two different things. I'm as outraged about the PRISM leak as I am about the Verizon leak as I am about the Room 614A disclosure back in 2006, as I am about they way they implemented the wiretapping program under FISA since 2011. Due procces of law can not come from a secret court, nor any without transparent accountability.
It wasn't exceptable then and it is not now. No amount of security is worth the compromize of an enitre nations's privacy. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights for good reason. The Fourth and Fifth Amendments for exactly this reason.
Jonathan Silverstein - 11 years ago
I must say that no I don't care. The federal government has been doing this for a long time, in fact there is an excellent Nova program on the NSA and it says that they harvest texts and emails, listen in on the phone calls of Americans etc. But that isn't even the point, nor is the fact that it prevents attacks which it may do but probably not a lot, thought there hasn't been an attack like 9/11 since then. The point is that the tech companies do this and if were gonna complain about this we should complain to them first. Heck, when I had to fill in the boxes to leave a comment autofill did it for me. The four major carriers probably have a database of every call ever made, Apple and Google probably have a database of every text and email, so if they have it and it doesn't matter to us why should the government having it matter. And my final point is that the only reason it should matter if the government has this info is if you have something to hide. Otherwise why does it matter. Lets be honest people get all paranoid about 1984 and stuff, its not gonna happen. If we complain like crazy about this there will be no slippery slope. Any more freedoms taken away and people will get feed up with this and vote everyone out, have everything repealed end of discussion. There is no threat from this unless ur a terrorist and u sent a phone call saying ur a terrorist in which case expect a visit from the NSA. Otherwise for the normal Americans, its just the government being the government so just don't worry about it.
TJ - 11 years ago
I understand some of the reasons why the government would collect some of this data. I feel like there ARE definitely some potential threats that must be addressed. However, there are several hacking programs out there designed to hack into one's personal PC system at home. I am a novice in the IT field as of right now, however I am in the process of learning the ins and outs of the industry and I do know that this type of software exists. I do not know the details of how this software operates, but I do know that multiple algorithmic equations take place in order to hack passwords and other security devices that a network might have. In light of all of that, my concern is when a network, such as my own, gets hacked into by an "average" civilian citizen or what have you and used for purposes described by the government as "threats." Then I'm the one responsible for the illegal transmissions that are going on within my network when in all actuality, I had no part in the situation at all. That being said, I think the government should definitely have some kind of restrictions as to what, when, and how exactly they can monitor information such as this.
Norman - 11 years ago
My one word answer was 'No'. But, it's not that simple. The government has been collecting data on all of us for many years, expanding and improving their methods as new technologies have emerged. Private industry has a lot of that same information - or access to it. While we're at it, don't let's assume that interested foreign entities don't also have a lot of that same information on any of us that they may have chosen to target. The Genie is out of the bottle and I am not comfortable with any of it. I don't like it, at all!
But, 'We The People' have done this to ourselves, because of the xenophobic angst we've perfected since 9/11; and through the stupid choices we've made at the polls. We (y'all) gleefully elected the nimrods who crafted the Patriot Act over the strident objections of us progressives. We're now seeing the alarming, if totally predictable, natural consequences of such a gigantically anti-democratic pile of legislative scat!
It makes no sense, now, to get all hot and bothered over what was patently inevitable from the start. So, no, I don't care about the government mining my internet data. It's that we (y'all) have given them legal permission to do it that bugs me! If you are afraid that the government is coming to get you and your rights, take the little comfort you deserve in the knowledge that you've given them the battering ram to knock down your own door.
As for me, I would like to see a full repeal or permanent sunset of the Patriot Act, and all of the other 'Big Brother' provisions that have been sneaked into our laws to "protect our freedom". But, I'm a reasonable man who accepts that we live in an increasingly dangers, and ever-smaller world, where prudence dictates, absolutely, that we protect ourselves. I get it! So, the Patriot Act, after repeal, should be replaced with some really thoughtful legislation that affords some of those necessary protections without encroaching the concept of privacy or any of our other precious, Constitutionally guaranteed American liberties.
Heck, on January 7, 2011, the WSJ reported that FBI Director Mueller went to Silicon Valley and asked the major software companies to build "trap doors" into their products(http://www.themorgandoctrine.com/2011/01/wsj-fbis-mueller-asked-silicon-valley.html). It's my opinion that Congress should accept the Huntsman recommendation that we ought to be able to aggressively "Hack Back", and such government Mining operations could keep that "hacking back" honest and help indemnify innocents caught in the crossfire. The key is some kind of federally monitored "hack back bonding authority." Frank Herbert (Dune) predicted this day in his novels.
In sentence two, 2011 should read 2001. Sorry.
To say that you do not care about this and to acknowledge that this is not a new problem are two different things. I'm as outraged about the PRISM leak as I am about the Verizon leak as I am about the Room 614A disclosure back in 2006, as I am about they way they implemented the wiretapping program under FISA since 2011. Due procces of law can not come from a secret court, nor any without transparent accountability.
It wasn't exceptable then and it is not now. No amount of security is worth the compromize of an enitre nations's privacy. We have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights for good reason. The Fourth and Fifth Amendments for exactly this reason.
I must say that no I don't care. The federal government has been doing this for a long time, in fact there is an excellent Nova program on the NSA and it says that they harvest texts and emails, listen in on the phone calls of Americans etc. But that isn't even the point, nor is the fact that it prevents attacks which it may do but probably not a lot, thought there hasn't been an attack like 9/11 since then. The point is that the tech companies do this and if were gonna complain about this we should complain to them first. Heck, when I had to fill in the boxes to leave a comment autofill did it for me. The four major carriers probably have a database of every call ever made, Apple and Google probably have a database of every text and email, so if they have it and it doesn't matter to us why should the government having it matter. And my final point is that the only reason it should matter if the government has this info is if you have something to hide. Otherwise why does it matter. Lets be honest people get all paranoid about 1984 and stuff, its not gonna happen. If we complain like crazy about this there will be no slippery slope. Any more freedoms taken away and people will get feed up with this and vote everyone out, have everything repealed end of discussion. There is no threat from this unless ur a terrorist and u sent a phone call saying ur a terrorist in which case expect a visit from the NSA. Otherwise for the normal Americans, its just the government being the government so just don't worry about it.
I understand some of the reasons why the government would collect some of this data. I feel like there ARE definitely some potential threats that must be addressed. However, there are several hacking programs out there designed to hack into one's personal PC system at home. I am a novice in the IT field as of right now, however I am in the process of learning the ins and outs of the industry and I do know that this type of software exists. I do not know the details of how this software operates, but I do know that multiple algorithmic equations take place in order to hack passwords and other security devices that a network might have. In light of all of that, my concern is when a network, such as my own, gets hacked into by an "average" civilian citizen or what have you and used for purposes described by the government as "threats." Then I'm the one responsible for the illegal transmissions that are going on within my network when in all actuality, I had no part in the situation at all. That being said, I think the government should definitely have some kind of restrictions as to what, when, and how exactly they can monitor information such as this.
My one word answer was 'No'. But, it's not that simple. The government has been collecting data on all of us for many years, expanding and improving their methods as new technologies have emerged. Private industry has a lot of that same information - or access to it. While we're at it, don't let's assume that interested foreign entities don't also have a lot of that same information on any of us that they may have chosen to target. The Genie is out of the bottle and I am not comfortable with any of it. I don't like it, at all!
But, 'We The People' have done this to ourselves, because of the xenophobic angst we've perfected since 9/11; and through the stupid choices we've made at the polls. We (y'all) gleefully elected the nimrods who crafted the Patriot Act over the strident objections of us progressives. We're now seeing the alarming, if totally predictable, natural consequences of such a gigantically anti-democratic pile of legislative scat!
It makes no sense, now, to get all hot and bothered over what was patently inevitable from the start. So, no, I don't care about the government mining my internet data. It's that we (y'all) have given them legal permission to do it that bugs me! If you are afraid that the government is coming to get you and your rights, take the little comfort you deserve in the knowledge that you've given them the battering ram to knock down your own door.
As for me, I would like to see a full repeal or permanent sunset of the Patriot Act, and all of the other 'Big Brother' provisions that have been sneaked into our laws to "protect our freedom". But, I'm a reasonable man who accepts that we live in an increasingly dangers, and ever-smaller world, where prudence dictates, absolutely, that we protect ourselves. I get it! So, the Patriot Act, after repeal, should be replaced with some really thoughtful legislation that affords some of those necessary protections without encroaching the concept of privacy or any of our other precious, Constitutionally guaranteed American liberties.
Heck, on January 7, 2011, the WSJ reported that FBI Director Mueller went to Silicon Valley and asked the major software companies to build "trap doors" into their products(http://www.themorgandoctrine.com/2011/01/wsj-fbis-mueller-asked-silicon-valley.html). It's my opinion that Congress should accept the Huntsman recommendation that we ought to be able to aggressively "Hack Back", and such government Mining operations could keep that "hacking back" honest and help indemnify innocents caught in the crossfire. The key is some kind of federally monitored "hack back bonding authority." Frank Herbert (Dune) predicted this day in his novels.