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.

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
“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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