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In many ways the building is a monument to privacy - the kind of twisted privacy where the state can keep whatever it wants secret, but a citizens life is rigor
by jackweirdy 10y ago
In many ways the building is a monument to privacy - the kind of twisted privacy where the state can keep whatever it wants secret, but a citizens life is rigorously documented and explorable.
It's the kind of relationship you expect between a newly enrolled soldier and their drill sergeant, not between a citizen and their government.
- idlewords 10y agoMost of the privacy violation is done by private industry.
- morganvachon 10y agoAnd? That doesn't change the fact that the government makes up the rest of it. Besides, a not insignificant amount of the private sector's invasion of privacy has been at the behest of the government: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/04/yahoo-secret-email-program-nsa-fbi https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/04/yahoo-sec...
- transitorykris 10y agoThe article covers that in the final paragraph. "For all the powerful machinery available to government surveillance programs, they are subject to some court jurisdiction. That is not the case for commercial surveillance: Every aspect of daily life is tracked by smartphone apps, social media and websites. Whatever spying may go on at 33 Thomas Street would at least still be subject to legal oversight. The building really may be a monument to quaint ideas about privacy."