May 22, 2009 at 05:20:18

1   1   1   View Ratings | Rate It

Promoted to Headline (H3) on 5/22/09:

Internet Threatened by Censorship, Secret Surveillance, and Cybersecurity Laws

By Stephen Lendman (about the author)     Page 4 of 7 page(s)

opednews.com     Permalink

In a follow-up May 4 article, Burghardt explored the secret, unaccountable world of FBI data mining through its Investigative Data Warehouse (IDW) containing over a billion documents, including many on US citizens. They come from our personal records and history, including what's obtainable online through illegal spying.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Kurt Opsahl, "The IDW includes more than four times as many documents as the Library of Congress, and the FBI has asked for millions of dollars to data-mine this warehouse, using unproven science in an attempt to predict future crimes from past behavior." This illegal spying violates our constitutional right to privacy and endangers our freedom by generating unsubstantiated threats based on pure supposition.

Besides the FBI, it's virtually certain that other, perhaps all 16, government intelligence agencies conduct similar spying illegally, and as such, endanger everyone's freedom.

Earlier on July 14, 2008, an ACLU press release headlined: "Terrorist Watch List Hits One Million Names" based on government reported figures. They include: "Members of Congress, nuns, war heros and other 'suspicious characters' (like anti-war and environmental activists)....trapped in the Kafkaesque clutches of this list, with little hope of escape."

According to the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program director, Barry Steinhardt, this data base represents "what's wrong with this administration's approach to security: it's unfair, out-of-control, a waste of resources, treats the rights of the innocent as an afterthought, and is a very real impediment in the lives of millions of (people) in this country. Putting a million names on a watch list is a guarantee (it) will do more harm than good" besides being ineffective to catch real criminals.

Given the current scope and intent of FBI data mining, with millions under surveillance, its potential for abuse far exceeds where it stood less than a year ago - because the Obama administration supports it. No longer is anything about us private, including:

-- all our financial transactions and records;

-- every check written;

-- every credit card or other electronic purchase;

-- our complete medical history;

-- every plane, train, bus or ship itinerary;

-- our phone records and conversations; and

-- every computer key stroke.

Our entire private world is now public - if spy snoops decide to invade it.

Key Internet-based companies, like Google, do it routinely - the company UK-based Privacy International ranked worst in its September 2007 "Race to the Bottom" report. It stated:

"....throughout our research we have found numerous deficiencies and hostilities in Google's approach to privacy that go well beyond those of other organizations." It tops them all "as an endemic threat to privacy. This is in part due to the diversity and specificity of Google's product range and the ability of the company to share extracted data between these tools, and in part due to Google's market dominance and the sheer size of its user base."

 1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7

 

 

View All Book Recommendations

Share this page: (what's this?)                   Tell a Friend:

                                                      (More...)

 

Most Popular Articles in the Last 2 Days (by Recommend Emails) Teflon Dick: How Cheney Uses Media For Protection by Linda Milazzo Australian camel killing plan angers animal welfare groups; 6000 to be shot! Posted by Stephen Fox The Devastating Consequences of a Corporate Health Care Bill by shamus cooke Americans Are Deeply Involved In Afghan Drug Trade by Glen Ford An Open Letter to President Obama from Michael Moore by Michael Moore Barack Obama: Manchurian Candidate Version 2.0 by Dave Lindorff Divided We Fall by Joe Parko Tonight Obama's escalation will be IMMEDIATELY opposed by Harvey Wasserman Failure to Embrace Power; Obama's, Democrats' Betrayal by Rob Kall The End of the Obama Administration by Stephen Soldz Go To Top 50 Most Popular