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The US Government Today Has More Data On The Average American Than The Stasi Did On East Germans
TechDirt ^ | 10/03/12 | TechDirt

Posted on 10/05/2012 7:07:19 PM PDT by RobertClark

We've written plenty about how the US government has been quite aggressive in spying on Americans. It has been helped along by a court system that doesn't seem particularly concerned about the 4th Amendment and by the growing ability of private companies to have our data and to then share it with the government at will. Either way, in a radio interview, Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin (who's been one of the best at covering the surveillance state in the US) made a simple observation that puts much of this into context: the US surveillance regime has more data on the average American than the Stasi ever did on East Germans. And, of course, as we've already seen, much of that data seems to be collected illegally with little oversight... and with absolutely no security benefit.

To be fair, part of the reason for why this is happening is purely technical/practical. While the Stasi likely wanted more info and would have loved to have been able to tap into a digitally connected world like we have today, that just wasn't possible. The fact that we have so much data about us in connected computers makes it an entirely different world. So, from a practical level, there's a big difference.

That said, it still should be terrifying. Even if there are legitimate technical reasons for why the government has so much more data on us, it doesn't change the simple fact (true both then and now) that such data is wide open to abuse, which inevitably happens. The ability of government officials to abuse access to information about you for questionable purposes is something that we should all be worried about. Even those who sometimes have the best of intentions seem to fall prey to the temptation to use such access in ways that strip away civil liberties and basic expectations of privacy. Unfortunately, the courts seem to have very little recognition of the scope of the issue, and there's almost no incentive for Congress (and certainly the executive branch) to do anything at all to fix this.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2012; bigbrother; cwii; dhs; dontspyonme; donttreadonme; government; govtabuse; nazistate; policestate; privacy; tsa; tyranny; waronliberty
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1 posted on 10/05/2012 7:07:27 PM PDT by RobertClark
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To: RobertClark

So...


2 posted on 10/05/2012 7:11:08 PM PDT by equaviator (There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)
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To: RobertClark

And just how many on this thread even KNOW who the STASI were?

Or the the CHEKA?

I could go on, but its a moot point.


3 posted on 10/05/2012 7:12:13 PM PDT by ConradofMontferrat (PER)
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To: RobertClark

Well duh. What do folks think Total Information Awareness was all about?


4 posted on 10/05/2012 7:12:21 PM PDT by petitfour
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To: RobertClark

And most of it is willingly given.


5 posted on 10/05/2012 7:15:30 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: cripplecreek

As long as we can watch Snooki and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, what could possibly go wrong?


6 posted on 10/05/2012 7:20:02 PM PDT by BipolarBob (G Orwell was an optimist it seems.)
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To: ConradofMontferrat
And just how many on this thread even KNOW who the STASI were?

Or the the CHEKA?

I could go on, but its a moot point.

I think many do, I certainly do - my Jewish grandparents fled after their home and business were raided by the Stasi. In many ways, the TSA and Homeland Security are turning into the Stasi / KGB.

7 posted on 10/05/2012 7:22:36 PM PDT by RobertClark (Be prepared, be polite, be professional and have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
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To: ConradofMontferrat

Just one interesting observation about those days: East German enlisted man, with rifle, stands on the line. East German runner breaks through the fence and dashes for West Berlin. EG Officer tells EG enlisted man to gun down runner.

Quandary: You DON’T shoot your fellow citizen, and you are court marshaled, stripped of rank, reduced in pay, your family starves. You DO shoot your fellow citizen, nothing happens right away. But 15 years later, you are put on trial for MURDER! Because you DIDN’T refuse your superior’s orders! (true story)

The mantra: “But I was just following orders” was thrown out at Nuremberg. Hey Soldier, You are ON YOUR OWN.

Nice place to be, eh BUREAUKARATZ!.

Life has a way of messing with those who think they are in a lofty position of POWER.


8 posted on 10/05/2012 7:24:13 PM PDT by ConradofMontferrat (PER)
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To: ConradofMontferrat

Life has a way of messing with those who think they are in a lofty position of POWER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who in your anecdote is the person in a lofty position of power?


9 posted on 10/05/2012 7:34:36 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: RobertClark

Big Deal!

So does Kroegers...


10 posted on 10/05/2012 7:37:08 PM PDT by G Larry (Which of Obama's policies do you think I'd support if he were white?)
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To: equaviator

Interesting

There is a theory that both Google and FB are supported by the government because they are large data collecting machines and that if the economics of either are looked at in detail, they just do not make the monies through their business model that would support the level of income they have.


11 posted on 10/05/2012 7:37:08 PM PDT by Chickensoup (STOP The Great O-ppression)
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To: RobertClark

So they know i like kittens and hairy women


12 posted on 10/05/2012 7:38:31 PM PDT by al baby (“If Barack Obama has a Harvard law degree, he didn’t earn that. Somebody else made that happen.”)
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To: RobertClark

I remember reading once that the Nazis were very surprised when they occupied France that the French government collected more information and spied on their people much more thoroughly than the Gestapo would’ve dared to.


13 posted on 10/05/2012 7:38:31 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: RobertClark

This is why the Stasi were so brutal. With what little info they had, they had to resort to kicking in doors at midnight, conducting searches, and letting the citizens know who was in charge.

Today, all that info is available without the midnight knock, and the Powers That Be can decide how to control us using less extreme methods. They can much more easily remove real troublemakers and impede the progress of potential problems before they realize they might be a problem.


14 posted on 10/05/2012 7:38:40 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: ConradofMontferrat

“Or the the CHEKA?”

Or know who Lou Bianca was...


15 posted on 10/05/2012 7:40:34 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: RobertClark
This article would have best been written 10-15 years ago...Then it would have been timely...

Too late to do anything about it now...The "beginning" of the predicted 1000-years occurred soon after 2001...

16 posted on 10/05/2012 7:43:49 PM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is another agitator for republicanism like Sam Adams when we need him?)
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To: al baby
So they know i like kittens and hairy women

They just look unnatural hairless.


17 posted on 10/05/2012 7:59:10 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Big Bird is a brood parasite: laid in our nest 43 years ago and we are still feeding him.)
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To: RobertClark

Much of it voluntarily offered up on FB


18 posted on 10/05/2012 7:59:24 PM PDT by lightman (Settling for the "lesser of two..." is still choosing Evil)
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To: KarlInOhio

Such cute, mutant Kittehs. I had a couple Cornish Rexes. They had just a tad more hair...but barely.

Anyone that puts anything on Facebook other than cute pictures of kitties, puppies and innocuous jokes is a moron.


19 posted on 10/05/2012 8:05:40 PM PDT by pops88 (Standing with Breitbart for truth)
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To: RobertClark

It works both ways. I can find and ID every politician, judge, cop, IRS agent and government bureaucrat within 25 miles of where I live. I know where they live, where they shop and what vehicles they drive. I also know the local border agent. Once a month, I see the sheriff, his deputies and the head of the state police district at the local American Legion or VFW meeting and we drink beers together.


20 posted on 10/05/2012 8:13:46 PM PDT by sergeantdave (The FBI has declared war on the Marine Corps)
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