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NSA surveillance, while terrible, is also kind of a red herring. The bigger risk to people is the enormous pile of data at large Internet companies and ISPs wh
by idlewords 10y ago
NSA surveillance, while terrible, is also kind of a red herring.
The bigger risk to people is the enormous pile of data at large Internet companies and ISPs which any government would find useful in implementing a policy of mass deportation or "extreme vetting".
NSA has legal and institutional barriers on domestic surveillance. These are damaged, but still exist. What private industry collects is completely unregulated and far broader in scope.
- revscat 10y agoThose institutional barriers are less effective in the face of those who do not respect them, and/or feel that disregarding them serves greater ideological goals. Couple this with both of the other branches of government being in the hands of political allies, and the normal system of checks and balances is no longer present. It is a fearful recipe. The calculus pre-Trump wherein corporations were considered threats as you described has changed: now the government is far, far more dangerous.
- dredmorbius 10y agoThe threats compound. Gov't plus commercial is worse than either individually.
- dredmorbius 10y agoAbsolutely. I didn't even realise the significance of the date until after I'd posted it. https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/foKDxbyhYUF?sfc=true https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/foKDxbyh...