Posted on 10/01/2005 9:58:55 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Katherine Albrecht, founder of CASPIAN, a consumer group fighting against supermarket 'loyalty' cards, will join Liz McIntyre to share an update on Radio Frequency Identification products (RFID). Related site:
Other names to use...
Peter Dangles
Dick Swinger
Clint Torres
Ima Fibbin
Agnes Morehead
7.62x39... works in SKS rifles...
"Able Danger" ring a tiny little bell?
It will work just as well (someday) to ferret out suspected "domestic enemies" as it did with Able Danger to ferret out Atta and company.
All from open source materials....like these.
The essense is that the million computer searchable factoids about you, when crunched, will inexorably take the govt into "predicted behaviour" territory. No need to wait for the crime, they will already "know" who their enemies are.
These food cards just make it even easier for tomorrow's potential Big Sister. Nothing crunches out your personality profile like what you decide to put in your shopping cart, year after year.
(Along with your phone records, credit card purchases, online habits, magazine subscriptions, etc etc etc.)
And dozens more. All of them would worry Big Sister.
If it truely deserves a deeper look it should be aired on a more credible venue than Coast to gost
So, tie that in with the shopping card in today's environment, and I'd be getting junk mail from yet
more competitors, offers to place classified ads in "certain" papers, a Surgeons General pdf on "heartburn", a
state health office notice, solicitations to participate in various gastro studies, a notice from my heath provider
about an increase in premiums, a notice from the DMV reminding me about organ donation, spam about some
other organ offer ....
Sure, coast to coast is a joke. But sometimes they put on folks the MSM won't touch, for whatever reason. Read my little snippet above to see how Able Danger worked, and why it could just as easily be used to locate "dangerous gun nuts and Constitution fanatics" (or any other brand of "domestic enemies") by some future Big Sister.
It's much more dangerous than just that nuisance factor, if you run this forward a few years, and put the tools into the hands of Big Sister.
I can certainly see the potential for abuse
So if I have a perchant for salty, tasty fried snackfoods, Big Brother will know? Creepy!
What if Big Brother is your insurance company who decides to raise your premiums based on eating habits?
The info about your eating habits now becomes a commodity that the store can sell to other businesses or to firms who will crunch the data. Fer instance, it's a little creepy when a woman receives a direct mail ad or free sample for a new feminine hygiene product right around that time of the month...
I assume you're just being sarcastic, in an ironic sort of way. I'm sure you're bright enough to grasp the concept behind Able Danger, for example, which led to Atta via open source info like......the food he ate.
Of course, if you really just don't get the concept, reread the thread slowly.
I verbally slap checkout clerks and other register-jockeys when they ask to have my phone number or other personal information for a cash-for-product transaction (which is about all I do, nowadays)
clerk: that'll be $37.86. your phone number, please?
me: why do you want my phone number?
clerk: for our records...
me: why would you believe I would want you to keep records of what I buy when and where?
clerk: but... but... deals... tracking... offers...
me: no. not what I want. not your concern. this is cash. complete the transaction. give me my change. thank you. good day.
The potential here is orders of magnitude beyond corporations sharing personal info, say, on your salty food habits or preference in feminine hygiene products. I could care less about that stuff (unless maybe my insurance was cancelled).
The misuse potential lies in the aggragate personality profile taken of you, when millions of factoids about you are crunched in supercomputers (very cheap today).
You've heard of Able Danger, and how "open source" data and supercomputers were used to find Atta and friends.
This methodology can also be turned around and aimed inward at pesky citizens.
"Predictive programs." Might not mean Jack to you today, but it will in a few years.
Truthfully, I don't mind the gubmint sifting through data looking for bad guys. I do mind having my personal information turned into a commodity.
We're not too far away from the day when Joe Smith will receive personalized envelope in the mail that reads:
GOOD NEWS FOR IMPOTENT MEN WITH GENITAL WARTS!
Details Inside!
The clerk could care less, it means nothing to him. T
But the accumulation of personal info will be a goldmine for Big Sister, when she wants to locate potential domestic troublemakers, "Able Danger" style.
It sounds so banal, so ho-hum. Who cares what toothpaste you use, or what spices you prefer?
Yet that is EXACTLY how Able Danger led to Atta and company.
And it is EXACTLY the information (multipled by millions) which will allow Big Sister to sift out the potential "problem children" from among the proles.
I'm glad the govt was able to use this stuff to find Atta. Too bad the info was not used, in time to stop 9-11.
But the point remains, this sword can easily be pointed inward at us, and not only at foreign enemies.
Thanks Travis. I've probably got enough purchases to get spit out in a data search. At least they'll know I'm hetero.
Potential misuse of data by the gov't can be dealt with via laws. I'm not so sure what laws cover private corporations and data, particularly if that data is processed, stored, etc. overseas at some off-shored facility. Remember, once data becomes a commodity it can be purchased by anyone off the street or around the world.
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