General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What we have here ... [View all]reusrename
(1,716 posts)Many people are beginning to recognize that there is more to this than traditional eavesdropping. If this is what you think this conversation is about, then yes, it might appear that the hair-on-fire folks have gone hyperbolic.
There are two separate concerns, for sure. One is the privacy issue, along with all the questions of whether or not the laws are constitutional or whether or not they are even being followed. This has always been the case with the 4th Amendment, ever since the country was founded.
The second concern is completely new, and it has to do with the use of metadata. Metadata is used to create the targets for a counterinsurgency operation. Sometimes (or according to research, in most cases) the most influential person in a social network, or insurgency, is not the most high profile, or the most vocal, individual in the group. With very large groups (OWS for example), this new technology identifies those individuals who's participation in the group is the most critical.
That, in a nutshell, is what the metadata is being collected and used for. It should be obvious how this information can be used/misused to affect our first amendment freedoms, specifically our right to peaceably assemble. There are a couple of stories floating around today about how the MIC is targeting opponents of the keystone pipeline. This counterinsurgeny technology and training is being used against law-abiding citizens right here in America.
Because the algorithms being used are easily handled by computers, and because no errors are introduced by trying to decode or translate any communication content, the system can create a very precise mapping of our social networks. Only actual metadata associated with each communication is logged into the software, and from that the algorithms sort out the social connections.
Almost everything about this particular type of surveillance is new. The science behind the algorithms that are used and the computers that store and sift the data are new. The idea behind controlling the pubic is not new, however. It has been done before, and very effectively, even without this new weapon.
This all fits into the bigger picture of the War on Terror. Remember that our country was founded by insurgents. Many, if not all of our heroes, would have been easily thwarted under this type of surveillance regime and folks have written about how Paul Revere could have been stopped.
For some basic info about how the science is implemented, google the keywords: thesis+insurgent+social+network
Basically, we are heading to place where you either support the 1% or else you are a terrorist. This path leads to the restoration of slavery. There is no doubt about it.