I Have All Your Phone Numbers in a Database

I shall call it '411'. I can use this '411' to find anyone's name and address in any state of the union at any time day or night. It also contains the address of every American household and business. No one can stop me!

Seriously though, how did you think the security services of the United States were monitoring phone calls to terrorists? I mean, how did you think it was working?

OF COURSE the system records data about vocal communications. This would include all sorts of metadata about the calls and include actual recordings of the calls themselves. This metadata is analyzed by computers in the same way Google analyzes the metadata about what's on your computer in order to provide Google Desktop functionality. Cause, as I'm sure you already know, Google maintains a vast database of not only what is on Google Desktop users' computers, but also what you like to search for on the Net (late at night when the mood strikes).

So I propose a new headline: Google Monitoring Internet Search Usage. Nobody seems to care much about a private company having your information or recording and archiving where and what you surf for on the web.

Or here's another: Social Security Administration Stores American's Social Security Numbers in Vast Database

I like this one: IRS Knows How Much Money You Make and Stores it In a Vast Database

Or perhaps: Every Credit Bureau in the World Has Every Conceivable Piece of Private Data About You Stored in a Vast Database That They Then Sell To Other Companies Who Try To Sell You Crap You Don't Need.

I guess I'm a little confused as to why anyone could be shocked, SHOCKED! that the NSA analyzes our phone calls. Isn't that the sort of thing we employ them to do? Have employed them to do since Truman created the agency?

Carnivore anyone? How about Echelon? How is trapping and recording and archiving internet traffic or fax traffic or postal traffic any different than recording oral traffic? We've been openly scanning IP packets since the Clinton Administration looking for terrorist communications but nobody seems to mind.

Moreover, nobody cared when the New York Times ran a story about this last year. The sanctimonious Senators on Capitol Hill bemoaning the erosion of civil liberties are hypocrites. They've all known all along that this sort of stuff happens and it is ridiculously disingenuous to pretend they're concerned all of a sudden.

So says I, foolish, foolish people.

Technorati: ChrisCam, webcam, Weblog, NSA, Bush, Media, Politics, Wiretapping, Echelon, Carnivore,

As told by Christo on May 12, 2006 @ 07:37

 FILED UNDER: From the Front Desk , Shaking Head in Disbelief , Stupid People
 PERMANENT LINK
 COMMENTS (0)   Must Register to comment.
 TRACKBACKS (0)