Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
The Public-Private Surveillance Partnership
Imagine the government passed a law requiring all citizens to carry a tracking device. Such a law would immediately be found unconstitutional. Yet we all carry mobile phones.
If the National Security Agency required us to notify it whenever we made a new friend, the nation would rebel. Yet we notify Facebook Inc. (FB) If the Federal Bureau of Investigation demanded copies of all our conversations and correspondence, it would be laughed at. Yet we provide copies of our e-mail to Google Inc. (GOOG), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) or whoever our mail host is; we provide copies of our text messages to Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), AT&T Inc. (T) and Sprint Corp. (S); and we provide copies of other conversations to Twitter Inc., Facebook, LinkedIn (LNKD) Corp. or whatever other site is hosting them.
The primary business model of the Internet is built on mass surveillance, and our government’s intelligence-gathering agencies have become addicted to that data. Understanding how we got here is critical to understanding how we undo the damage.
Computers and networks inherently produce data, and our constant interactions with them allow corporations to collect an enormous amount of intensely personal data about us as we go about our daily lives. Sometimes we produce this data inadvertently simply by using our phones, credit cards, computers and other devices. Sometimes we give corporations this data directly on Google, Facebook, Apple Inc.’s iCloud and so on in exchange for whatever free or cheap service we receive from the Internet in return.
The NSA is also in the business of spying on everyone, and it has realized it’s far easier to collect all the data from these corporations rather than from us directly. In some cases, the NSA asks for this data nicely. In other cases, it makes use of subtle threats or overt pressure. If that doesn’t work, it uses tools like national security letters.
The Partnership
The result is a corporate-government surveillance partnership, one that allows both the government and corporations to get away with
Obama And The NSA: Making America Safer...
By Taking Away Our Freedom? Perhaps Just Less Free And Less Safe...
Got poop?
To summarize, your nutrient-leached poo gets swirled together with a glorious liquid cacophony of shower water, pee, rain, and other discarded liquids, which floats through a labyrinth of pipes. Then it arrives at the waste-water treatment plant (which we all know to be a very scary place). Pebbles, used condoms, and lost iPhones are strained out, as well as oil and grease, leaving poopy water and a layer of sludge.
Then a bunch of bacteria feast on the pathogens in the water, which is disinfected and set free. The remaining sludge is also dinner for bacteria, which belches out methane that powers the waste-water treatment plant. It’s a beautiful cycle! I don’t see why THAT couldn't be shown on public television.
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