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Like, duh. Telecom has always been entwined with state security - they're essentially two halves of the same informational entity. It nominally should have bee
by vezzy-fnord 11y ago
Like, duh. Telecom has always been entwined with state security - they're essentially two halves of the same informational entity.
It nominally should have been a "like, duh," but as it turns out, it was a great mystery to a many people, taking well until 2013 when Snowden finally made it stupidly obvious such that ignoring or denying it was simply rendered impossible.
I'm not sure how much of it was due to historical ignorance, faith in statism, or in the case of the United States - its history and culture generally being heavily enshrined in mythology.
- mindslight 11y agoSnowden wasn't the first whistleblower, so to me it's more of a sociological topic than anything else. While it's tough to get a man to understand something his salary depends on not understanding, that does not mean he should be free from judgment for doing so. So I still think "duh" is appropriate. I see the same wishful denial as in eg second amendment "hopefuls" who think that having nerf guns is proof that the government is being kept at bay. The truth's implications are simply too difficult.
- Joof 11y agoI think everyone knew (the NSA exists after all; wiretaps were a thing for beating mobsters). It's just the extent; we expect it to be more targeted than saving ALL the phone records.