Orwellian

Extremely Serious Privacy Problem in America

"One effect of undermining privacy is to suppress free speech. It makes the person afraid or reluctant to speak for fear that at some undetermined future time , his actions or statements will be used against him. They can be misconstrued. They can be taken out of context. He can be forced to defend himself, and that's costly. He may be subject to a police inquiry or invasion whereby his belongings are seized and his whole life disrupted. The State's powers turned against a person in this way are enormous. Privacy is one of those socially-useful and socially-necessary things that we take for granted when it's there." Continue reading →

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Black boxes in cars raise privacy concerns

"Many motorists don't know it, but it's likely that every time they get behind the wheel, there's a snitch along for the ride. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event data recorders—better known as 'black boxes'—in all new cars and light trucks beginning Sept. 1, 2014. But the agency is behind the curve. Automakers have been quietly tucking the devices, which automatically record the actions of drivers and the responses of their vehicles in a continuous information loop, into most new cars for years." Continue reading →

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It’s Happening Faster Than Even I Thought

"Since I manage an internet privacy company, people expect me to be pessimistic on the development of the surveillance state. But even I didn't expect the surveillance state to form this quickly. 2012 has been a banner year for amoral marketers and soul-dead overseers, and the situation is probably much worse than you realize. A very deep surveillance state is being completed now. It's your choice whether or not you'll escape it." Continue reading →

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Slowing down the surveillance state: a guide to warrantless government spying

"If the growing use of governmental tip-toeing to wiretap phone lines and emails doesn’t seem serious, think again. So heightened lately are concerns over surveillance that two major organizations have published a primer on federal spy programs. Both ProPublica and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have released thorough guides this week that explore what the US government can and can’t do in terms of tracking US citizens using an array of weirdly-worded wiretap laws currently on the books." Continue reading →

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Public buses being outfitted with sophisticated audio surveillance across U.S.

"In cities across the United States, government officials are installing sophisticated audio surveillance equipment on public buses. Documents obtained by The Daily indicated that at least seven cities throughout the United States were installing surveillance systems capable of capturing riders’ conversations in addition to the video already being captured by existing systems. While transit agencies say that the system is intended to enhance saftey and resolve passenger complaints, experts have warned that the technology could easily be misused." Continue reading →

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A Plan to Stop the Feds From Reading Your Emails

"The reform proposals are all pretty simple: Don't spy on Americans (which the government claims it's not doing anyway), tell Americans how much the government has spied on them in the past, and explain to the American people exactly how much authority the government believes it has to spy on its own citizens without a warrant. For a Congress bubbling over with Republican anti-big-government crusaders and Democrats who slammed Bush for shredding the Constitution, that ought to be an easy sell, right?" Continue reading →

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Americans Are The Most Spied On People In World History

"In a radio interview, Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin (who’s been one of the best at covering the surveillance state in the US) made a simple observation that puts much of this into context: the US surveillance regime has more data on the average American than the Stasi ever did on East Germans. The American government is collecting and storing virtually every phone call, purchases, email, text message, internet searches, social media communications, health information, employment history, travel and student records, and virtually all other information of every American." Continue reading →

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Double Tap Drones: What Has Happened to the United States?

"NYU student Josh Begley is tweeting every reported U.S. drone strike since 2002, and the feed highlights a disturbing tactic employed by the U.S. that is widely considered a war crime. Known as the 'double tap,' the tactic involves bombing a target multiple times in relatively quick succession, meaning that the second strike often hits first responders. A 2007 report by the Homeland Security Institute called double taps a 'favorite tactic of Hamas' and the FBI considers it a tactic employed by terrorists. The reports featured on @dronestream clearly document that U.S. hellfire missiles have intentionally targeted funerals and civilian rescuers." Continue reading →

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NDAA Opponents Just Won Their Biggest Victory Since The Blocking Of Indefinite Detention

"The Michigan House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill today that would prevent any state cooperation with federal agents attempting to detain people without due process in Michigan, The Tenth Amendment Center reports. Carl Mayer, a lawyer for the group of journalists and activists suing over the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), told BI that the vote is 'the most important development in this fight since Judge Forrest issued her permanent injunction' on section 1021 of the NDAA." Continue reading →

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11 Secret Documents Americans Deserve to See

"Many documents produced by the U.S. government are kept secret for questionable reasons. The fact that presidents and other government officials have the power to deem materials classified provides them with an opportunity to use national security as an excuse to suppress documents and reports that would reveal embarrassing or illegal activities. Now I have chosen 11 examples that were created—and buried—by both Democratic and Republican administrations and which cover assassinations, spying, torture, 50-year-old historical events, presidential directives with classified titles and…trade negotiations." Continue reading →

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