Big Brother Found a Loophole?

The United States government is prohibited by law from investigating citizens without cause and has limits on how it can collect and use personal information. It seems in the wake of 9/11 some government agencies have eroded those limits some by circumventing them.

They are turning to private corporations that do data-mining for a living to gather information they can use to profile and ferret out would be terrorists.

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Grocery stores offer discounts for shoppers who allow them to track their purchases, while credit bureaus gather consumer financial records so lenders can determine whether a borrower is likely to keep up with mortgage payments

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“People in the government, very much so in the Justice Department, have been playing out a lust for information that is not consistent with who we have been as a nation,” former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey said recently.

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This is one of those "It was bound to happen things". As I pointed out to my students yesterday and today about the Michigan SuperDMCA people (read: governments) will use the law how they see fit. Fear and paranoia has become huge for the US gov't and I believe they will use it for whatever purpose suits them. If they think that someone is doing evil, they want to know it.

Sorta reminds of someone.. Wait. McCarthy wasn't it? ;)

i really wonder how the USgov is going to tell whether or not i'm a terrorist by the fact that i make my car payment and tend to buy guitar magazines when i go to the grocery store.

on the other hand, RadioShack's database if full of information.

Me:"yes i would like to buy a pack of double-A batteries"
RS:"may i have your name, address, ssn, mother's maiden name, credit card numbers, make and model of car, and level of security clearance, as well as a current resume`?'
Me:"screw this i'm going to 7-11!"
RS:"AHa! you shop at 7-11!<furiously enters it into computer>where ELSE do you shop?"

MsMittens - I suppose the view may be comical from where you sit since it doesn't affect you :D

BTW- just for perspective, how do you feel about your government or how do you think Canadians in general feel? I have maintained that for the most part everyone has issues with their government. Some are better than others, but the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Any opinions you can provide on the Canadian government (or anyone else on their respective governments) would be appreciated.

Also, not to spam or self-promote, but I thought you might be interested in my article on the state DMCA bills here: Are You Breaking The Law?

Back on topic more, I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I also feel that a lot of this stuff goes on quite often without our knowledge. It is only a big deal when it becomes public knowledge and makes the news.

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Me:"yes i would like to buy a pack of double-A batteries"
RS:"may i have your name, address, ssn, mother's maiden name, credit card numbers, make and model of car, and level of security clearance, as well as a current resume`?'
Me:"screw this i'm going to 7-11!"
RS:"AHa! you shop at 7-11!<furiously enters it into computer>where ELSE do you shop?"

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Ain't that the truth!! There are some other stores like that (though none as bad as Radio Shack in my experience). And, they have the audacity to seem offended or like you're some sort of whacko if you don't want to divulge your life's history so you can buy a blank video tape.

While it's humourous in some regards, it's not that funny. We as Canadians do get affected by the US. We represent 25% of your import market while you (the US) represents 80% of ours. Your laws do affect us. It's not just US citizens that will appear in that database of people going through airports and on flights, but all citizens that go through US airports. What of their privacy? What right does the US have to invade their privacy and start information on them, making assumptions and accusations?

A little while ago a Canadian citizen got accused and humiliated by a US Customs official for having a "fake" passport (it's in fact one of the newer passports issued by Canada that has all sorts of security features in it, including a digitized signature -- I got one recently.. it's neat!).

Oh Canadians always have issue with their gov't. Heck, it's a national pasttime here. :D Our biggest issue is lack of support. You wanna know why what I think is the true reason why Canada didn't send troops over with the US? We don't have the funds. That's reality. It doesn't make sense to send over troops where you don't have enough equipment or the equipment is so old it's dangerous. Troops are still being paid what they were 20 years ago. The size of Canada's Armed Forces has shrunk from it's high in the late 80s of 85,000 to about 55,000 recently. Canadians as a whole don't agree with going to war, so that part is accurate (with the exception of the Province of Alberta that seems to be 72% in favour of joining the conflict but Alberta seems to be more "Americanised" than the rest of the Nation).

As for the SuperDMCA, do you think that me wearing a t-shirt with Blue Box Designs or the sale of 2600 could result in an arrest?

As for the tracking of private citizens through existing methods, I wonder how much the US government was already doing this. The conspiracy nuts must be having a field day this week.

how in the world is looking at my credit report going to help them do a risk assessment when I fly on a plane??? that's just plain ludicruous.

FWIW, on the grocery store "frequent buyer" programs I never enter my real information. I saw a webpage for a guy the other day that is trying to throw off a large chains database by handing out his card information to other people and telling them to use his card number when they purchase. he's going to be the super shopper with some rather wierd buying patterns :)


tonybradly - thanks for the link. I'll be going over your paper some and will come back with some questions I'm sure.

I was curious about the "do not call list." Wouldn't the list be shorter if they listed those that WANTED calls instead. It just seems like another database to sell/(ab)use.

Also, have you guys heard about some law floating around oregon's legislature saying that if one protester (ex: tree sitters) blocks a road or something, that the whole group can be thrown in jail for life?

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Originally posted here by tonybradley
Any opinions you can provide on the Canadian government (or anyone else on their respective governments) would be appreciated.

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I am from Province of Alberta, and it's my humble opinion that we should have done more to show support for the efforts in Iraq.

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Alberta seems to be more "Americanised" than the rest of the Nation

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I am not sure this is entirely true (I prefer to think of us as red-necks :D ), but really, 12 years of trying to deal with Saddam through 'diplomatic' channels has gotten us where? I believe it was and is time to take the next step, that being force.

This is just one canuck's 2 cents worth (which is about .065 cents US)


Cheers:

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Originally posted here by Lv4

FWIW, on the grocery store "frequent buyer" programs I never enter my real information. I saw a webpage for a guy the other day that is trying to throw off a large chains database by handing out his card information to other people and telling them to use his card number when they purchase. he's going to be the super shopper with some rather wierd buying patterns :)

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LINK LINK LINK :)

The sad truth is that if they want to the us government can get any information on you they want. Even though they can't make their security estimates accurate