Pssssst... they're watching.....

[garybeck]

All this talk about domestic spying, email, and now even your Google searches browsing history could be going into a huge database.

You know what I think this is about? It's not just about terrorism. It's also about politics. And more.

Let's say 10 years from now you decide to run for office. With all the data collection they have going on now, it would be pretty easy to sift through it all and print out all your DU posts, Google searches. Even your browsing history can be recorded by your ISP and word is now they're recording it all. They say it's for marketing which is bothersome enough. Maybe you check out (pefectly legal) porn every once in while. Maybe you posted the words "I hate America" on a blog in the middle of a rant about the war.

Or even forget yourself. Just think, 10 years from now, whoever is running for Governor of your state... currently that person might not even be in politics at all currently. He/she could be an average joe, maybe on your local school board or city council. Chances are they have an internet account. And every night when they surf the web, they are essentially writing into a diary, logging their every click. 10 years from now that person could be running for office, maybe even high office. Their entire web browsing history will be available in a database, somewhere. To think it won't be scrutinized and use for political means is wishful thinking. The only question is, who has access to that information.

I believe this will make it almost impossible to find candidates without something to exploit in their past and will make a mockery out of our political process. The scary thing is, what happens if only one party has access to this information and the other(s) don't...

The point now is that the data is being collected. How it could be used in the future... is a scary thought. If this information is being sold to marketing companies, why wouldn't it also be available to anyone else willing to pay for it? Let's say you're applying for a job. It's possible (likely?) that someday the "background checks" will include a review of your internet use. How about health care? If (God forbid) we still have privatized health care companies deciding if they will sell you insurance or not, and at what price... they could check and see what kinds of diseases you've been researching on medical websites and claim you have a pre-existing condition.

Paranoid?

Just remember, the data is there. Every time you click on a URL, or type in a web form, that data is being routed through your ISP and they record it. Every time you accept a "cookie" its being recorded somewhere. How long do they keep it? Where do they put it? I don't know. They admit it's happening, and claim it's just being collected for marketing purposes. Do you trust Comcast, or whoever you use as an ISP, to protect your privacy?

[spanone]

1. of course it's about politics.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

2. the Thought Police are watching you

[fascisthunter]

3. Oh Well... There Go My Political Aspirations

:evilgrin:

[niyad]

4. I don't trust any of the bastards, but I will be damned if I stop what I am doing

because of fear. got that, agent mikey? read my lips, listen to my phone conversations, watch my mail, and be damned to all of you colluding in the fascist states of america.

[trof]

5. I'm using scroogle now.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/User/Desktop/scraper.htm

[NightWatcher]

6. I'm not the biggest fan of the DU/Google connection

I get kinda freaked out when I am searching through google and I see a thread in which I may have said something in here.

We are all on file and we are all wired together. I trully cant wait till the day when I can drop off the grid completely- no interent, no name, no records

[acmavm]

7. Well, if you don't do anything illegal and you don't do anything that

you have reason to be ashamed about, what the fuck can they do to ya? And maybe if a few of these bastards in Congress faced up to any blackmail that people think is going on, what could they do? Because it would freak people out if they knew the extent to which their privacy, their lives, are being invaded by these criminals.

Of course they're listening. They're watching, they're everywhere.

Years and years ago my brother was in the air force at a base in Diabykur, Turkey (the spelling is off no doubt). Anyway even back then he said that you could tune in on a military installation in Russia and if there were three hundred vehicles with their motors running going all over the place and a guy dribbling a basketball, they could isolate the sound of that guy with his basketball out of all the other noise. That was YEARS ago.

It scares me what they can do now.

[niyad]

10. under the current admin, they can do anything they want--they don't need a reason.

[gauguin57]

8. Hey, Thought Police! Eat my shorts!

Quit spying on me, you freaks!

(that oughtta scare em!)

[AlphaCentauri]

9. they may start punishing many people for being honest and not hypocrite

:-)

[Javaman]

11. This only dawned on you now?

That's what it's always been about. It's not just politics, it's any job/position or anything that effects your life that would move you to a different "class".

The corps run everything now.

Rewatch the movie "Brazil". It's a good manual.