Unit 13 - Monitoring web activity

Learning that the government is actively watching people's activity online and using private information to create profiles is highly distrubing. It's something you know is happening, but don't really think about. I suppose this means everytime you order something online, the company you buy from, now has that information of yours to sell. I was particularly disturbed by the ease that the Total Information Awareness gave to the government to gather information on people without probable cause or a warrent. It's like knowing you have your own personal policeman to monitor everything you do. The other point that popped out at me from the TIA article was the blurb on the name change on the TIA. This seems to be a common practice in government workings. If something becomes controversial, we will just change the name and everything will be fine. The web site said the program was no longer being funded; I wonder if that means the datamining was turning out to be as useful as was hoped or if the project has just gone underground.

I'm glad No Place to Hide was written because now I dont feel quite like a conspiracy theorist. I have long though that the key tags for stores and the On Star programs were just ways to keep tabs on our movements. Someone with a cell phone, an email address, a GM and a Grocery key tag is all set to be watched. I understand that this can be a great way to find potential threats, but it is such an invasion of privacy. And we thought Big Brother was going to come in through the TV. Who knows when everyone switches to HD?

I found it ironic that the YouTube video had been taken down due to a pending copyright issue with Viacom.

This week I commented on Maggie's blog and Miquel's blog