Google Pressure Cookers And Backpacks, Get A Visit From The Cops

The Atlantic Wire ^ | August 1, 2013 | Philip Bump

[Biggirl]

Michele Catalano was looking for information online about pressure cookers. Her husband, in the same time frame, was Googling backpacks. Wednesday morning, six men from a joint terrorism task force showed up at their house to see if they were terrorists. Which prompts the question: How'd the government know what they were Googling?

[k4gypsyrose]

Lets see. In the last 24 hours I have googled backpacks to update my bug out bag and Quinoa because I was curious about it, so when should I expect the knock?

[JoeProBono]

[Minutemen]

This is how Assinine our federal government has become:
The Russian secret police warned American feds to be on the lookout for the Chechnyan terrorist brothers (Boston bombers), the Feds ignored the warning!

Dare to Google "Pressure Cooker"? Uncle Sap is all over you pronto!

[RobinOfKingston]

Pay attention when frequent posters begin to fall silent.

[Minutemen]

All Americans should simultaneously Google “PRESSURE COOKER”

[ronniesgal]

I just googled “pressure cooker you a**holes” and I live close to DC. I’ll let u know what happens.

[Defiant]

Maybe every one of us who are active here needs a “secret buddy”. Someone who checks on us from time to time, and if we don’t respond, sends an alarm. I’ve often thought the canary in the coal mine will be the day Rush is forced off the air, or something mysterious happens to him. Maybe we are the canaries.

[nascarnation]

I made a visit to rural Indiana to look at an old car for sale.
It was sitting out behind this guy’s house with the classic blue tarp and two old “heavy duty” pressure cookers used to keep it from blowing away....

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Let's assume, for the moment, that this story is factual and complete. If so, it illustrates one of the (many) problems with comprehensive electronic surveillance, combined with data mining -- False Positives.

If the DHS, FBI, etc. had prior reasonable cause to suspect this couple, and that caused them to check their Google searches -- then, those results might be considered evidence.

However, when you surveil everyone routinely, a large number of apparent hits will occur randomly. (Think of Google search topics as cards -- deal enough of them, and you will have a number of random "hits" of "hot" topics.) Anyone, who has studied (even somewhat) advanced statistics, will understand this problem quite well. Rather than using the data mining to confirm suspects -- they're using data mining to produce suspects. Given that there are probably a lot more people, who happen to search on two or more trigger words, than there are actual active terrorists, at any given time -- you are going to generate more false positives than real hits. A lot of innocent citizens are going to be treated like terrorists; because of this bass-ackwards way of collecting evidence.

[k4gypsyrose]

If I remember right, during the Clinton years, “Bubba the love sponge” would perk the ears of the NSA.

[k4gypsyrose]

I think that’s an excellent idea

[TheDon]

Who said anything about guns? We aren’t quite in a police state yet. Getting there, but not quite yet.

[TheDon]

One hundred times a week, groups of six armed men drive to houses in three black SUVs, conducting consented-if-casual searches of the property perhaps in part because of things people looked up online.

Just don't consent and send them on their way.

[JimRed]

Don’t Google- BING.

[Truth29]

I suppose if someone had asked for a warrant, really bad things would have started to happen...

[eartrumpet]

Our county extension office has an ad in this week’s paper telling about their annual pressure cooker gauge calibration program. Bring in your bomb and they make sure it reads right so the green beans don’t poison you later. I wonder if the feds will raid their office at the courthouse?

[Minutemen]

Using a pressure cooker in that manner is a Class A felony!