The Digital Surveillance State: Vast, Secret, and Dangerous

The Digital Surveillance State: Vast, Secret, and Dangerous.

-- Tom

 

Unfortunately many people just skip through these 'Surveillance State' timeline type warning articles. They've read it all before. Even though the proof of eroding civil liberties is there before our eyes there is very little we can do to stop it.

 

Another excellent piece by Greenwald.

I'll post the summation that fits within the fair-use guidelines so that, hopefully, a few more might want to read the full article.

As little oversight as Surveillance State officials have, corporate officials engaged in these activities have even less. Relying upon profit-driven industry for the intelligence community’s “core mission” is to ensure that we have Endless War and an always-expanding Surveillance State. After all, the very people providing us with the “intelligence” that we use to make decisions are the ones who are duty-bound to keep this Endless War and Surveillance Machine alive and expanding because, as the Post put it, they are “obligated to shareholders rather than the public interest.” The Surveillance State thus provides its own fuel and own rationale to ensure its endless expansion, all while resisting any efforts to impose transparency or accountability on it.

And as we acquiesce to more and more sacrifices of our privacy to the omnipotent Surveillance State, it builds the wall of secrecy behind which it operates higher and more impenetrable, which means it constantly knows more about the actions of citizens, while citizens constantly know less about it. We chirp endlessly about the Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Democrats and Republicans, but this is the Real U.S. Government: a massive Surveillance State functioning in darkness, beyond elections and parties, so secret, vast and powerful that it evades the control or knowledge of any one person or even any organization.​

Here's a link to a very easy-to-read version:
http://www.cato-unbound.org/2010/08...llance-state-vast-secret-and-dangerous/print/

Thanks again, Tom, for posting great information.

 

As I have said countless times, encrypt your e-mail, encrypt your IM sessions, and use SSL websites whenever possible. You can even encrypt your phone calls too for good measure.

 

Don't assume SSL is safe... I wouldn't be surprised if numerous govt. three-letter entities hold the masters to them all. Rolling your own SSL cert., using OpenSSH, or GnuPG/OpenPGP is a diff. story entirely... Trust no one.

 

@ lotuseclat79 and LockBox

Thanks for the info/links

Yes it's frightening what can be done in the name of "The People" with a stroke of the pen on an Executive Order, signed by Barry Soetoro, i mean Barack Obama

Remember the age old saying, the pen is mightier than the sword, how true. Except his pen uses Billions of your tax $ for more than swords

If enough people don't kick up a REAL fuss and complain/protest etc etc, then guess what, they get the politicians/government they deserve.

If you think ALL this is bad, and it is, you ain't seen nothing yet, and it won't be pretty, and it's coming to your location very soon. Get prepared for the worst whilst you still have some time. I'm NOT joking !

 

I suspect that this is hopeless. And

People like Greenwald apparently believe that government and service providers should respect our privacy, and that we need to fight for that through the political process. That has worked. For example, the Clipper Chip was never implemented, and strong encryption did not become illegal in the 1990s.

However, that's arguably the fool's path. These folks just aren't trustworthy. They know that they're right, and that they can do whatever it takes.

Anonymity networks and encrypted email are still not widely used by the general public, even though widespread surveillance is common knowledge. Why is that? Is it just too complicated? Too weird?

Thunderbird plus Enigmail (OpenPGP plugin) is actually quite easy to use. Torbutton is also easy, and there are several anonymous VPNs.

What will it take for non-Al-foil-hat folks to opt out of the total surveillance state?

 

Stop teasing us and tell us what it is man. Lucidate us.

Should we all move to Mexico?

Does it have anything to do with bread lines like in Russia?

 

To save maybe going OT and getting censored i'll PM you

Heck no, that's one of the last places you would want to be. Having said that, as millions of them have infiltrated the USA, and continue to so every day, in a while Mexico will be empty, so yeah, it might be good idea then. Unfortunately, by then the **** will have hit the fan big time, so travel will be severely restricted !

 

Have you spent much time there? Have you been reading the news?

No -- more like Mad Max

 

"America staggers through our world like the drunken buffoon."

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0710/americans-preparing-social-collapse/

Just sayin'...