The Out of Control Surveillance State (Was: I Almost Posted In P&N)

[lxskllr]

I wanted to make a post about the out of control surveillance state, particularly regarding the recent news with the CIA, FBI, and Army. I found a related thread, and read the first couple pages. Fuck that place. I used to call 4chan the asshole of the internet, but I think I need to revise that to the P&N board here. 4channers are assholes, but they know they are, and they revel in it. The douchebaggery represented in P&N by people with a superiority complex, but lack superiority is a whole different level. That thread I read was mellow by P&N standards. Fuck that place to hell :^S

Here's the editorial I wanted to post. Move the thread to P&N if desired. I won't be following it...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/13/petraeus-surveillance-state-fbi

If it probably should have been posted in P&N, it definitely should have been posted in P&N
-ViRGE

 

[shortylickens]

The whole point of that place is to keep this bullshit AWAY FROM OFF TOPIC!

 

[Doppel]

Two things:

1) Some of us make the trip to OT every once in a while, spreading our filth and debauchery

2)

That the stars of America's national security establishment are being devoured by out-of-control surveillance is a form of sweet justice

Yep, I agree, this is awesome.

 

[lxskllr]

Here's another one...

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...er-accounts-post-false-confessions-of-piracy/

The reason I'm posting these is due to people who think my concern for privacy is paranoid, and over the top. I don't give a shit about the particular news. It's the core that gets glossed over that's important.

The link above shows why libre software is important. Jokers try to shame people for "piracy", and fuck it up. Undisclosed "features" like that would be ferreted out of libre software. If you can't read the code, you don't own the software, or the computer it runs on. Next time, instead of making furtive tweets, it'll just send your data to the FBI. You'll never know until you get a knock on your door, and find yourself justifying your views to someone who has no business knowing.

 

[Doppel]

Here's another one...

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...er-accounts-post-false-confessions-of-piracy/

The reason I'm posting these is due to people who think my concern for privacy is paranoid, and over the top. I don't give a shit about the particular news. It's the core that gets glossed over that's important.

The link above shows why libre software is important. Jokers try to shame people for "piracy", and fuck it up. Undisclosed "features" like that would be ferreted out of libre software. If you can't read the code, you don't own the software, or the computer it runs on. Next time, instead of making furtive tweets, it'll just send your data to the FBI. You'll never know until you get a knock on your door, and find yourself justifying your views to someone who has no business knowing.

I believe it's hard to emphasize how little our privacy is and how it's crumbling yearly. We all converse probably more than in history and yet unlike even two decades ago so much of this is documented in perpetuity. And searchable. So a an off-hand joke that nobody ever had a history of back in the day now it could bite you years down the road.

There's not a human being alive with an opinion who could not be made to look like a total fvckwad if enough of his/her statements were compiled out of context.

Most people just truly don't get it. They have no imagination. They cannot even fathom how a few simple technologies like image recognition and indexable images (all in existence now but very nascent compared to where we'll be in 10 years) can affect so much. Stuff like this with Patreus is just the beginning, it's not even scratched the surface. Wait until some software your wife has to infer your honesty compares a statement you made about where you were 18 months ago and then some image a total stranger puts on facebook of the same date happens to catch you in the background, not where you were, and your wife gets an alert. I think a lot of people will end up screwed and they don't even know it yet.

 

[Mursilis]

The douchebaggery represented in P&N by people with a superiority complex, but lack superiority is a whole different level.

Speaking of unwarranted superiority complexes . . .

I'm guessing you're not strong on personal insight.