You Are a Suspect

NY TIMES via Drudge ^ | william safire

[DAnconia55]

You Are a Suspect
By WILLIAM SAFIRE

ASHINGTON — If the Homeland Security Act is not amended before passage, here is what will happen to you:
Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade your receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend — all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database."

[Nuke'm Glowing]

Can you imagine Hitlery Klintoon with this kind of power in 2012???? I would have to learn Tongan and relocate quickly.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

""a foolish nation and its freedoms are soon parted."

WWJWD. Seriously, that is the best quote on this subject to date. Thank you.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

"I don't know, but I trust the guys and one gal in charge. They know."

Did you extract that quote from a middle class German citizen in 1938? Just curious.

[antidisestablishment]

You are correct, but Safire is just a columnist and there are better ones out there who (I pray) will take up the baton.

God bless the friends of our nation,
and may He curse the enemies of our Republic.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

That website this morning ruined my day. I can not believe we, as a nation, have gotten this weak.

[dirtboy]

Do a search for the IAO. It is a newly created office (Jan 2002) within DARPA. It will chill your spine unless you are already bleeting with the rest of the sheeple.

On paper it is chilling. In reality, I think the feds are trying to create something so massive that it will be practically worthless. Corporations trying to accomplish this are starting to talk petabytes, or a trillion bytes of data. Just the data hygience, matching and retrieval considerations are daunting, in organizations that deal with terabytes (trillions of bytes) of data on a daily basis. I simply do not think the feds will be able to create this monster - for cryin' out loud, they can't even create a manageable system for the IRS, and all the information has a common key on it - SSN/TIN. They will implode if they try to match all the data from millions of sources for over a quarter of a million persons, none of it with a common linking key. To me, what DARPA wants to do is almost comical.

However, this database would still have a use. It will fail to pull a terrorist suspect name or two out of the miasma using modeling - but it would be VERY useful for entering a name or two and getting a sh**load of personal data to use against someone. That IMO is the greatest danger of this beast.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

They do not need authorization. Any incursions can be justified as part of the "war against terrorism". If you don't believe me, watch and see. Report back in 2 years, if FR is allowed to exist.

[dirtboy]

petabytes, or a trillion bytes of data - should read petabytes, or a QUADRILLION bytes of data.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

The database is not designed as such per se. It is designed to have open access to all commercial databases and all TCP/IP transactions within the grasp of all telecommunications companies operating within the U.S. border. They would only need the keys to access each system. This database is much smaller than many think. The storage already exists on commercial servers worldwide. It would be a prerequisite to doing business in the U.S. to allow fedgov access to all databases.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

BZZZZZZZZZZTTTT. Sorry Fred. He's wrong. The fedgov is not looking to "create" another database. They are creating a system for cross referencing all commercial systems. It would be very effective not to mention that the data would be quite useful for the IRS to go after the "tax shelters" etc. I can see a lot of harm coming from this. If you can't that's your opinion. But I will remind you of the 900 plus FBI files that were "confidential" that a former bouncer held for several months.

[dirtboy]

They do not need authorization. Any incursions can be justified as part of the "war against terrorism". If you don't believe me, watch and see. Report back in 2 years, if FR is allowed to exist.

I work in the financial sector. I am well aware of what my company will be required to send to the feds under the Patriot Act - transactions in excess of $10,000. The feds can build the infrastructure, but there is still no provision to provide that machine all credit card transactions - heck, the feds severely limit what a financial company can do with its own data. And, once again, the feds can't even successfully develop systems for the IRS where almost all the data has a common linking key. What on earth makes anyone think they can create a database with every business transaction in the country, from 25 million businesses? How is that data going to be transmitted? Read? Formatted? Merged? Matched? Hint: it won't.

[Anchoragite]

Not "The Feds." This is "The Military." Big difference. Pentagon has a big budget and is always, always on the cutting edge of all technologies. They can do this.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

" What is Unconstitutional about this proposal??"

Nothing yet. If you don't mind having your free speech restricted, I don't.

" We are at war. If we want to wipe out Islam from the face of the globe we have to make some sacrifices."

"We are at war. All of the citizens must make sacrifices for the Fatherland. Our future, our people, our survival depends on this."-Goebbels, 1942

[dirtboy]

The database is not designed as such per se. It is designed to have open access to all commercial databases and all TCP/IP transactions within the grasp of all telecommunications companies operating within the U.S. border. They would only need the keys to access each system. This database is much smaller than many think. The storage already exists on commercial servers worldwide. It would be a prerequisite to doing business in the U.S. to allow fedgov access to all databases.

Sounds easy. But it isn't. You have many different data formats, database management sytems, etc., etc. There are a few key corporations that the feds could approach to access data without encountering too many of these problems. But guess what? Under current law, THE FEDS WOULD RUN AFOUL OF THEIR OWN PRIVACY REGS. DARPA is pie-in-the-sky. IMO a greater threat are expanded police powers and the continual weakening of protections regarding search and seizure.

[dirtboy]

Not "The Feds." This is "The Military." Big difference. Pentagon has a big budget and is always, always on the cutting edge of all technologies. They can do this.

I disagree. When it comes to this technology, the private sector is on the cutting edge of this stuff. We're still in the terabyte world, and it drives us nuts. Think data feeds from 25 million companies, because, under the Patriot Act, ALL businesses are required to report any transaction over $10,000. I don't think the feds have thought through the problem of maintaining that kind of data - and it won't even have a linking key like IRS data.

This is the kind of crap I deal with for a living - and the more I think about this, the more I believe this DARPA matter is more comical than sinister, except for the fact that such a database would be potentially useful for lookups instead of modelling.

[Free the USA]

I don't know what your where responding to but I don't think anything you said could relate to my post.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

Actually under the proposal of the IAO, it does not require companies to submit to squat; it mandates open systems to warrantless government intrusions without court authorization. In other words, you have to open your systems up with a back door to allow goons to sneak in and out at their desire. As an IT consultant (in the past) also, I can see what they want. Why spend billions on a "database" when you can mandate during "a time of war" that all systems be available to the fedgov without a warrant? They are only going to selectively create a database on the "undesirables" or "suspects". Also they will probably change the data storage requirements on private companies so watch for another tick up on your credit card interest rate. It's brilliant. And damned evil.

[Nuke'm Glowing]

I agree, it's not easy. But I think that the one positive thing (warped as that sounds) is that we will finally have a mandated uniform system for data storage and systems. It's not an immediate goal, but I think that Microsoft cut the deal to be a winner. Imagine all servers being mandated in the U.S. to use a system "friendly" to the fedgov DARPA snoopers. It's not reality now. But watch a nuke or biochem attack occur in say Los Angeles and watch what happens.

[MoGalahad]

ping.

[Deb]

Quit lying. The government is still required to get a judge's approval.