The Government has a complete file of your life

[RobertEarl]

Yes it does. Somewhere they have a file of all the info they have collected on you.

Every day they add something to your file. It may have false info or it may all be true. Then one day, someone in the government may release that file to the world. Say, posts it on the internet.

What would you say then? Would you finally say enough spying?

That day is coming, the way things are going. Be prepared. Or fight it now, before your file grows.

As you may read, many posters here think the government having a file all about your life, the money you spent, the phone calls you made, everything, is just a big joke to them. Which goes to show just how controlled the people have become. It is a sad place we are all in. Expect no privacy, because fellow Americans consider your privacy to be just a big joke.

[zappaman]

1. Says who?

Link?

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

2. I hear they even issue a card with your name and a uniquely identifying number.

[zappaman]

3. They tried to take my picture at the DMV!

I said "no way pal! Your file on me will be incomplete!"

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

8. Be careful about those holographic thingies on your license.

I hear they can read minds.

Might want to try this:

[HappyMe]

16. I have fashioned several

attractive hats and accessories from that stuff.



http://www.google.com/search?q=tinfoil+hats&rlz=1T4ACEW_enUS378US378&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=BdvpUeLRCpix4APliYHgAg&ved=0CD0QsAQ&biw=1366&bih=641

[zappaman]

22. Don't forget your cat!

[HappyMe]

31. I made one for the stray that hangs around the apartments.

I'm working on teeny tiny ones for my neighbor's fish. You can't be too careful.

[DevonRex]

54. They know you're an organ donor!!!!

The harvesting has begun! Run for your lives!!!!!!

[pipi_k]

80. that's why

when they offer to let me choose from three photos for my license, I always take the ugliest one that looks nothing like me.

Let those bastards PROVE it's me in that photo they have on file!

[silverweb]

4. !!

[RobertEarl]

7. Jokers to left of me, jokers to the right

Here I am trying to protect my privacy.

[zappaman]

19. "Here I am trying to protect my privacy."

On the internet?!?!?!



Seriously, you could have multiple identities on DU and someone would still know!

[sabrina 1]

62. You live in a surveillance state. And as you can see, people have been conditioned to it in the US.

The good part is that a majority of the people are now realizing what has been going on and are at least expressing their opposition to it.

Sooner or later there will be real laws protecting people's 4th Amendment rights because history shows that when Governments become this abusive, there is always a correction.

Then we will the same people joking about their own enslavement right now, fully support these laws, IF and it's a big IF Democrats are the ones who propose them.

You are in the majority, and it's fun seeing what I used to have to imagine it was like in other nations when the Government became this intrusive into people's lives and I wondered how they got away with it. The more I read, the more it became apparent that it was the people themselves who made it possible. And when they realized how dangerous it was it was usually too late.

Thanks for being awake and as I said thankfully you are in the majority,

[RobertEarl]

68. We can see how it happens, eh?

Well, I've stood up for the voiceless, the dumb, and the stupid all my life. So this is just another day of trying to communicate.

Thanks for your reply, Sabrina.

[Ed Suspicious]

76. Look at them line up with tinfoil hat jokes

to proclaim your message passe' and your desire to live without somebody watching and recording and condensing and analyzing naive and simply not the way things work. What useful idiots. The bewildered herd indeed.

'...But Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes. You want us to put water on the crops instead?'

'Yes.'

'Like, the water that comes from the toilet?'

'Well, it doesn't have to come from the toilet, but yes. We should put water on the crops instead of Brawndo.'

'But Brawndo has what plants crave! It's got electrolytes!'

'Well, let's look at the situation. The plants aren't growing, so I'm pretty sure that the Brawndo isn't working. We should just try the water out instead and see if that works.'

'Yeah? Well, I've never seen plants grow out of a toilet.'

'Okay, look - we want to get this problem solved. So we have to try a solution of some kind. Let's see if the water hypothesis works, and go from there, rather than worrying about what plants may or may not crave.'

'But we know what plants crave. Brawndo. It's got electrolytes.'

'...Okay - what are electrolytes? Do you know?'

'Yeah. It's what they use to make Brawndo.'

'But why do they use them in Bawndo? What do they do?'

'They're part of what plants crave.'

'But why do plants crave them?'

'Because plants crave Brawndo, and Brawndo has electrolytes.'

[pintobean]

75. Trying not to offend Stinky

with that misquote?

[Whisp]

11. I sometimes get a tax refund, you think I should send it back?

and next time I do my taxes, I should white out my privates?

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

15. Collecting all those pages of information on your assets to take a cut? TYRANNY!

How dare they make you testify against yourself like that.

Something something Benjamin Franklin something something.

[pinboy3niner]

23. How many of those little tiny bottles does it take to Wite-Out your privates?

And does it burn?

[Whisp]

25. burns like a ring of fire, man.

--
on edit:
HEY! whachoo mean how many bottles?

[DevonRex]

48. Speaking of "I Wanna Be Free" and the Monkees,

Did you know that Michael Nesmith's mother invented White Out? You had to get the other thread to get the BeFree reference. But we had lots of old Monkees YouTubes!!!!

Looks like this one has moved on to Steve Miller.

[pinboy3niner]

52. Ha! I didn't know that.

I did see the reference in the other thread. Is that really true about Nesmith's mother? It's not one of those Romy and Michele things, is it?

[DevonRex]

57. It is really true.

Liquid Paper is what the original brand was called. We call it white out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Nesmith

[pintobean]

79. Stealers Wheel

(Gerry Rafferty), not Steve Miller.

But, I blame Napster for the confusion. (cough....cough)

Aw, shit. I hope the RIAA isn't spying on us.

[DevonRex]

81. So weird. Because right after that I looked up Baker Street.

I must have known that on another level.

[pintobean]

85. It was actually mislabeled that way on P2P networks.

A lot of songs were attributed to the wrong artists.

Good stuff either way, though.

[MineralMan]

5. Actually, there are many government files on each of us.

You were not aware of that? We can never be free of those.

[RobertEarl]

6. You acknowledge the fact.

And now it is all compiled in one place. Like that you have been paid to post articles on the internet.

[MineralMan]

101. What are you talking about? I am not paid to post on the Internet.

I get paid to write entire websites for small businesses. I am not paid for posting on DU or any other discussion forum.

Please do not write what is not true.

[Whisp]

9. there is some space in Somalia if anyone is looking for governmentlessness. n/t

[BeyondGeography]

10. Have 'em call if they can make sense of it

[woo me with science]

12. The NSA spying is the stuff of which tyranny is made.

Any inconvenient person,

anyone who threatens to organize resistance to anything the government wants,

anyone with a critical vote on an issue the government cares about,

anyone who seeks office but holds views the government does not like...

Anyone considered inconvenient...anyone at all.

They have an entire life of internet activity, chats, emails, phone calls, postings to mine for the information they need to put this person down. Quietly, before the opposition even materializes. This is a way to impose tyranny and dispose of dissent before the dissent is even public. This is the ultimate tool with which to intimidate, blackmail, or quietly charge and "disappear" anyone.

And anyone who thinks it *won't* be abused is either unfathomably stupid or lying.

[randome]

20. You have no idea what anyone has about your life. None at all.

You just want to believe the worst. That would be fine with me but I dislike your trying to 'infect' everyone with your own depression.

Facts matter. Evidence counts. You have no evidence to support the idea that 'they' have everything on you recorded somewhere.

For whatever bizarre reason, that's what you choose to believe.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[RobertEarl]

24. Indeed

The KKK would love to have such information.

The republican party loves it. Hell, Bush and Rove are the ones who made it all possible.

This is the Brave New World and right out of 1984 we are now living in.

[William769]

13. F.B.I. has had a file on me since 1983!

If they have any pictures of me in my private life, I hope they enjoy them (many and I do mean many in compromising positions).

If they were to ever release them I would sue for royalties! I could always use the extra income.

[randome]

14. Why did you delete your previous thread on this and start a new one?

Seriously, get help.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Brother Buzz]

28. He believes the first subthread was stupid so he deleted the thread

That, and the people making a jokes about privacy.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023298481#post69

[NightWatcher]

17. Tax records, social security/birth recs, selective service

Plus there are records if you've been in the military, applied for government work, been fingerprinted (for good or bad). Then there are state records from drivers license, etc.

I don't think somewhere there's a fat folder in a box in underground DC with everything compiled. They don't have time to worry nor care about the mundane details of 99.99% of us.

[Fumesucker]

18. You say that like it's a bad thing...

There's really nothing to fear if you haven't done anything wrong.

Most Americans already have God looking over their shoulder 24/7, examining their lustful thoughts and so forth, what's a little more intrusive spying after that?

[zappaman]

21. True.

He's there right now looking at your web use...and he's not happy.

[Fumesucker]

26. I for one welcome our new.. err.. old .. umm .. only omniscient and ever so benevolent overlord

[Whisp]

30. yeh, talk about fricken surveillance!

Isn't this the clown that is supposed to know every thought you have, evrything everything in your life?

fuck the NSA, they're just pikers compared to this surveilling dude.

[Scootaloo]

27. Good!

Maybe I'll give them a ring to find out exactly what happened on the weekend after my 21st birthday, 'cause I don't remember a single fucking thing.

[randome]

34. PM me. I'll tell you!

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Whisp]

42. aha! So you Are on someone's 'payroll'

and you have blue type!

[JaneyVee]

29. I'm guessing you're against single payer healthcare?

Because that would collect a lot of info as well.

[CakeGrrl]

32. Paranoia will destroy ya

So, does "fighting" include railing and ranting at other posters on a forum? That doesn't seem very constructive or likely to produce results.

[Mojo Electro]

33. Do they know I take my shoes off to poop?

I can explain....

[randome]

35. Please don't.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[Mojo Electro]

39. Here's hoping I don't have to.

[Scootaloo]

36. No need to explain

Nobody wants shoeprints on their wall, after all!

[Mojo Electro]

40. I hadn't even thought of that.

genius.

[William769]

37. ...

[Whisp]

43. ...

[William769]

45. ...

[randome]

46. I had that 45 at one time!

And on the reverse side: the same song played in reverse! Awesome times!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]

[William769]

47. An oldie but a goodie!

[JoePhilly]

38. I know they have my grades from K-12.

[geek tragedy]

41. But not Obama's college transcripts!!!! nt

[Thinkingabout]

60. or Bush's military records

[Liberal Veteran]

59. See, they warned you that shit would go on your permanent record.

They weren't lying.

[JoePhilly]

66. !!!

[Make7]

44. Déjà Vu

Déjà Vu   (4min20sec)

[Whisp]

49. matrix cat

Neo's Nyan Cat Déjà Vu Matrix

must be a glitch in the NSA's matrix, while watching us.

[DevonRex]

50. Damn! I knew I shouldn't have gotten a driver's license.

Now they know where I live!

[Coyotl]

51. sources?

[RobertEarl]

55. New one here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023298866#top

Rep. Rush Holt: Treat Americans as citizens, not suspects
The recent headline-making stories of our government’s out-of-control surveillance activities have frequently focused on the invasion of privacy that the National Security Agency and the Department of Justice’s programs represent.

[Spazito]

53. This thread is full of win!

[RobertEarl]

56. Wind!

Just a bunch of jokers, mainly. You'd think they'd have something better to do? I think their momma is calling them!

[Spazito]

61. LOL

I think the responses are perfectly appropriate given the OP subject matter. I love humor being used to point out nonsense. It works perfectly in this thread.

[RobertEarl]

63. Nonsense?

You don't even ask to debate or discuss a serious matter that one of the most knowledgeable congress people we have has made note of:

Rep. Rush Holt: Treat Americans as citizens, not suspects

The recent headline-making stories of our government’s out-of-control surveillance activities have frequently focused on the invasion of privacy that the National Security Agency and the Department of Justice’s programs represent.

So really, a smart person will take note of the people making fun of the idea and see who is who in this debate. I hereby note your presence and stance, Spazito.

[Spazito]

64. Take good notes, oh one who espouses 'privacy' but makes 'note' of others...

file away, I bet you don't even see the utter hypocrisy in your post.

[RobertEarl]

70. Privacy?

You post on my thread and when I take note, you complain about privacy?

You are just looking for trouble. You have nothing to say, and of that yes, I do take note of your name. Geeez. You're no fun, you fell right over.

[Spazito]

71. LOL and whoosh...

right over your head. That's okay, your posts are making this thread even more of a win!

[tridim]

73. Nothing but net!

[pintobean]

82. At least he stands up for himself.

[Spazito]

86. LOL!

[doc03]

58. I am sure they do I once had job that required

NSA clearance. I know the Feds questioned some of my friends and neighbors.

[kentauros]

65. Hell,the FBI has a full set of finger and handprints from me,

thanks to application for Top Secret clearance that I might have gotten if not for an early-aborted military career. And then there's the FCC licence (no longer required to get on the air.) Not to mention that licence was for volunteering at a "subversive" radio station. My file is likely quite thick!

And if it ever ends up online, I will sue the federal government for negligence (and whatever else) and I'll win, too!

Really now, what does all this hand-ringing get you anyway? Unless that info IS released to the public then all this is just giving you a preventable ulcer. Thanks but I'll pass.

[Lex]

67. The Gov't has my fingerprints

and my criminal and civil rap sheet (no offenses) and everywhere I've lived since I was in college. Oh noes.

[DevonRex]

99. Yes. My security clearance paperwork, drug tests, my DNA, my voice prints in a few

languages, and the same on my husband minus the DNA. The same as me on one of my children and close on the other, just no voice prints in other languages and DNA.

We're all organ donors. I expect we'll wake up one morning minus a kidney or amount or a piece of liver. The Harvest Has Begun. Be afraid. Be very afraid. They known where we live.


I haven't had this much fun in ages.

[Godhumor]

69. The gov has my full biometrics, multiple sets of fingerprints and a sworn affidavit that I am not a

Terrorist.

Frankly, I know they have a file on me as pay of my homeland security clearance to be in ports unescorted.

[tridim]

72. Wood shacks in Montana are cheap and quite rustic. Off grid baby!

Good luck!

[RobertEarl]

74. Too late for me

I've been on TV, made speeches, been wiretapped.

I've nothing to hide, it's all on public record. But that doesn't mean I would go along with allowing them to tap you. Or anyone else. Why? Because it ain't right to allow the government to peek over your shoulder.

Seems there are few here that think the government should be limited into who's business they can pry? Are yo willing to allow government unfettered access to your life?

[tridim]

78. Well no, because the government doesn't have "unfettered access to my life".

The government doesn't give a crap about me. Or you.

[pipi_k]

77. The way I figure it is...

I have trouble remembering some shit.

Someday I'll have even more trouble remembering lots of shit. A file will come in handy so I'll know what the hell I did yesterday.

[RobertEarl]

83. True.

And if your computer crashes they can restore you like new.

Even if you lose your passwords, they can get you logged in.

It isn't we old farts that have to worry. We made all our mistakes and slid by. The youngsters coming up with all the electronics will not have that luxury, or right. Every mistake they make will be recorded and held, and if needed used against them.

[pipi_k]

89. OK, so....

who is this "they" who has all my computer passwords?

Because I'll be honest...I'm getting real tired of keeping track of them in a notebook that could get lost or stolen.

It would be handy to just call them (whoever "them" is) and get them whenever I forget what they are....

[pinboy3niner]

87. You're in luck! Upon receipt of your FOIA request, NSA will be happy to provide...

...redacted copies of all your files.

[pipi_k]

90. Those bastards!!!!!

I don't like what they said about me in paragraph 4!!!

[pinboy3niner]

91. Shhh! Ix-nay on the ame-nay alling-cay!

Those astards-bay are ensitive-say about that!

[leeroysphitz]

84. Android phones listen to your phone conversations and send

lists of keywords to facebook for it's targeted advertising.

I'm pretty sure.

[treestar]

88. What they have on me

My social security number, how much I made last year, how much business expenses were and what they were for (and they could audit that), my date of birth, my passport number, my place of birth, my address, both home and business, they probably have my phone number with via the phone book or some form I filled out for them. They may know where I went to college, they have a record of my paying back my college loan, which means they might know my parents' finances at the time, their names (well they do have my birth certificate, after all, they gave me the passport based on my proving I was born here).

They may know when I re-entered the country, using my passport.

None of it is bothering me, honestly.

[Zoeisright]

92. So?

You think in the digital age there's real privacy?

I've got a unicorn in my backyard I'll sell to you if you believe that shit.

[RobertEarl]

94. There isn't now, but there could be

Enough people now are aware of the possibilities. Many many more than there were a few weeks ago. The question is: how bad do we want privacy?

[KinMd]

93. If the Goverment didn't, others do

, my cell phone carrier, internet provider, credit card company, bank, heath insurance co, and on and on

[Hekate]

95. Bull. But all the advertisers in Creation certainly do. And you pay them!

You pay for the privilege!

I'm not happy about what Bush-Cheney did to exponentially expand governmental powers. Not happy at all.

But perhaps it escaped your attention that President Obama informed Congress they should really roll back some of those powers while he is in office.

It is unlikely that Congress will do that -- first, the GOP just loves the expanded executive powers given by the USA PATRIOT ACT, and second, not only do they have a majority in the House, but "Democrats" like so many at DU are going to do a good job of convincing voters that there is no difference so they should just stay home next year. That will certainly help.

Meantime, those advertisers? Every electronic piece of equipment that you purchase has built-in ways of tracking your purchases, your activities, your location, your friends, your preferences, and on and on. Your cell phone, your Smart Phone, your iPad, all that great expensive stuff you buy keeps you linked in with everybody you know and a lot you don't. A couple of years ago the latest upcoming gimmick was to have the owner of one of these wonderful gadgets walk down any city street and be bombarded with information: restaurants you might like to try, sales in stores, and even which of your friends was in these establishments in case you wanted to join them.

Doesn't anyone get this at all? All that information is already gathered up in the name of profit. The government doesn't have to do anything special to get it when people leave it lying around all over the place.

This makes me shudder. I've known for over 20 years that we already have Big Brother, and he's not Uncle Sam, he's the CEO of a multi-national corporation.

Good luck, future generations. You're going to need it.

[cprompt]

96. That damn permanent record

My guidance counselor warned me about

[FarCenter]

97. The Future of Lifelogging – Interview with Gordon Bell

Lifelogging pioneer Gordon Bell has been using a wearable camera in some form since early 2000. He was the subject for the MyLifeBits experimental lifelogging project and is a principal Researcher at Microsoft. Here he talks with the Autographer team about the future of lifelogging.

Gordon, you’ve been involved at the forefront of technology for many years now, from minicomputers, timesharing and multiprocessors in the 1960s, to the birth of the internet through to the fascinating work with Microsoft Research. What was it that led you to first become interested in wearable technology?

LUCK! Or as Pasteur said: “Chance favours the prepared mind.”

In 1998 I started the quest to capture bits of my life so as to be paperless. That soon evolved to include “everything” in life… without really thinking a lot about what that meant. By 2001, when we wrote the first paper on Storing Everything, except anything real time. We started the MyLifeBits project based on the necessity of a database and Gates’ 1995 observation that “someday you will be able to store everything you see and hear”. Vannevar Bush’s 1945 design of Memex was our design spec.

In 2000, I met Dr. Astro Teller, the founder of BodyMedia, a wearable armband for tracking energy expenditure and heart rate, which was similarly intriguing for health monitoring. I started wearing this device in late 2002, so the idea that there would be full body monitoring was already coming into view.

In the late 1990s I had seen the MIT ‘Cyborgs’ – Steve Mann, Thad Starner, and others at the MediaLab, who were doing various forms of lifelogging. In September 2003 the founder of DejaView contacted me about using their wearable video capture that stored snippets; and then in October, Lyndsay Williams of Microsoft Research produced the first wearable SenseCam with Fisheye lens, based on the Philips USB Key Camera. So it was pretty clear that something for visual capture was going to happen. Lyndsay sent me one of their first prototype SenseCams in 2004.

http://blog.autographer.com/2013/05/the-future-of-lifelogging-interview-with-gordon-bell/

Now that's what I call a file!

[zappaman]

98. Thank you.

For a truly great thread!
Some of the greatest replies ever!

[Coyotl]

100. Yes, thanks to government record keeping, the People get their social security checks.

This is a good thing!