I seriously don't get the mouthfrothing outrage. For years and years, everyone knowledgeable kept saying - if you post it on the internet, it is public.
You're using Google - Google reads your stuff. Algorithms build a profile of you, select ads, etc.
You're using Amazon - Amazon knows and never forgets what you're buying and browsing for.
You're using Credit Cards - the CC company knows a lot about you.
You have a bank account - the bank knows a lot about you.
You have a mobile phone - the operator knows a lot about you.
Ever had the opportunity to look behind the curtains? Like how banks build customer profiles? Withdraw money from ATMs regularly late at night on weekends? You like to party, noted in your internal credit profile. Implemented that shit myself. The NSA has less impact on your life than your bank.
Etc, Etc, Etc. What do you think all those CRM systems out there are used for? Those are private intelligence tools, with next to no government oversight. No auditors coming in, no whistleblowers, nothing. There are rules of course, but who, ever, has really been caught violating them? Got fined? Went to jail? Right...
And now everyones's OUTRAGED because the government dared to do the same all these private corporations have been doing all along. I don't get it. It's aok if your stuff shows up in data.com, Binley's, etc., right? No outrage, ever.
All the shouting over the Internet, posting on Twitter, Facebook, HN, reddit, .. in plaintext, documented for eternity, in plain sight. No privacy concerns there, oh no. I have accounts in 56 privately owned, for-profit communication tools - but I deeply care about privacy. Here, have my baby pictures, and my current location. Did I tell the world what I think of that Mexican place yet?
You want privacy? Then shut. the. fuck up. Don't write it down, don't take pictures, don't use your credit card. As has been known for a long, long time.
But next week all of this will be over as Apple has WWDC and the OUTRAGE of the common neckbeard will be directed to another awesome topic.
Do you really not understand the difference between the government having this data and a private corporation? I'll spell it out: the government has guns and can lock you up based on their interpretation of the data, private corporations can't.
And please don't try to tell me that the government only targets the guilty with the data they collect and the observations they make. Many, many innocent people are caught up in the government's nets every day.
for the vast majority of people, private corporations have a larger impact on their life than the NSA.
the NSA will not touch your life. your bank, your mobile operator, your credit card company - immediate impact. if the latter want to fuck you up, you're toast as well. see all the foreclosures, etc.
this focus on government is truly strange. just one of the players, but somehow special.
the NSA has accomplished, what a lot of fucking startups are attempting - your unified social media profile. linkedin is green with jealousy.
I do agree that many of us knew about the privacy implications of software as a service already and the outrage is somewhat artificial and about reminding others.
It's still a notable event when huge amounts of personal data leave the different silos and is combined and exchanged. It's a breach of trust when you voluntarily give personal information to a company and then this information leaks to a third party where it's further exchanged with subcontractor companies. At this point accountability and transparency is completely lost.
If you have personal data on google and google abuses this information you have ways of dealing with it. You can change the service, out the company, sue, ... With an opaque shadow industry there is little you can do in case of abuse.
But that's the thing, this data has been "leaving the silos" for years too. It's not actually new. They've improved the technology for the FISA process, sure, but it's not actually a new thing.
You're using Google - Google reads your stuff. Algorithms build a profile of you, select ads, etc.
You're using Amazon - Amazon knows and never forgets what you're buying and browsing for.
You're using Credit Cards - the CC company knows a lot about you.
You have a bank account - the bank knows a lot about you.
You have a mobile phone - the operator knows a lot about you.
Ever had the opportunity to look behind the curtains? Like how banks build customer profiles? Withdraw money from ATMs regularly late at night on weekends? You like to party, noted in your internal credit profile. Implemented that shit myself. The NSA has less impact on your life than your bank.
Etc, Etc, Etc. What do you think all those CRM systems out there are used for? Those are private intelligence tools, with next to no government oversight. No auditors coming in, no whistleblowers, nothing. There are rules of course, but who, ever, has really been caught violating them? Got fined? Went to jail? Right...
And now everyones's OUTRAGED because the government dared to do the same all these private corporations have been doing all along. I don't get it. It's aok if your stuff shows up in data.com, Binley's, etc., right? No outrage, ever.
All the shouting over the Internet, posting on Twitter, Facebook, HN, reddit, .. in plaintext, documented for eternity, in plain sight. No privacy concerns there, oh no. I have accounts in 56 privately owned, for-profit communication tools - but I deeply care about privacy. Here, have my baby pictures, and my current location. Did I tell the world what I think of that Mexican place yet?
You want privacy? Then shut. the. fuck up. Don't write it down, don't take pictures, don't use your credit card. As has been known for a long, long time.
But next week all of this will be over as Apple has WWDC and the OUTRAGE of the common neckbeard will be directed to another awesome topic.