Sunday, June 16, 2013

DATA Dystopia. The NSA Scandal and Beyond.

 

In the last couple of weeks, we've gotten confirmation that what we've been assuming is true:
The government is snooping on us.  They aren't lightly snooping.  :
  • They are gathering data on EVERYONE (inside and outside the US) simultaneously.
  • Storing it in databases that will last forever, and 
  • Mining that data in the hopes of proving that you are a criminal/terrorist.
What are they snooping on?
  • Who you talk to.  E-mails and phone numbers.  When and who.
  • What you are saying.  Copies and details are stored.
  • Where you are/were.  GPS info from your phone tracks your location.
Add to open info to that list.  Stuff like satellite pics, CCTV coverage of major cities/buildings, and open source social media mining.

There's even deeper data.  Information like the growing national DNA repository (which is going to mine captured DNA for traits -- see www.23andme.com ).  

It's safe to say that at the end of the day, there's not much you can do without big brother detecting it.
So, should you be worried?  Of course.  There's all sorts of nightmare scenarios that can emerge from this collection effort can enable the automation of tyranny (and that's a very bad thing).

What do I find interesting about this situation? 

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