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You guys are familiar with the Snowden disclosures and how all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US government right

You guys are familiar with the Snowden disclosures and how all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US government right? At this point, this is table stakes for big tech and it's completely anti-democratic. China may have a very good domestic dragnet but clearly it's playing catch up compared to the foreign intelligence assets the USG (and five eyes) has.

ethbr0 6y ago
If you're going to cite Snowden, please be accurate. Remember that one of the leaks was that the NSA tapped unencrypted Google backhaul in transit without Google's knowledge. There's a difference between panopticon fearmongering and citing specific information we should be wary of. The former leads to apathy. The latter leads to action.
- xtian 6y ago
  How about this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
  - Judgmentality 6y ago
    Whoa. I'm surprised I'd never heard of this before. Thank you.
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    That was ATT. It (and all the other exposed operations) hardly support the statement that "all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US government".
    - xtian 6y ago
      The US defense and intelligence apparatuses have been deeply intertwined with private enterprise for many decades. This is a matter of historical fact. But I totally understand if it's more comfortable for you to believe that now things are different despite the fact that no one was ever held to account for what happened in the past.
      - ethbr0 6y ago
        There is no proof that I'm aware of that all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US goverent. To be clear, evidence that some telecoms have, or that some major tech companies have is insufficient. Extrapolating some into all is unreasonable. Do you have more proof it's the latter?
- tehjoker 6y ago
  Right, that's why I said "very likely" instead of "proven". However, at the point it's pretty clear the tech companies are all competing for pentagon contracts (e.g. Project Maven, JEDI, etc) so the 2013 information has significant potential to be dated. Also, there's these nuggets: https://www.fastcompany.com/40481463/facebook-wants-to-hire-people-with-national-security-clearances https://www.fastcompany.com/40481463/facebook-wants-to-hire-... https://www.rt.com/usa/399256-mattis-amazon-bezos-trump/ https://www.rt.com/usa/399256-mattis-amazon-bezos-trump/ Thinking America's largest monopolies and America's government and foreign policy are at odds over more than superficial things is probably not an accurate view of the world. America uses our corporations to advance nebulously defined "national security interests" and corporations use the government to get rich(er).

ethbr0 6y ago

If you're going to cite Snowden, please be accurate. Remember that one of the leaks was that the NSA tapped unencrypted Google backhaul in transit without Google's knowledge. There's a difference between panopticon fearmongering and citing specific information we should be wary of. The former leads to apathy. The latter leads to action.

xtian 6y ago
How about this one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A
- Judgmentality 6y ago
  Whoa. I'm surprised I'd never heard of this before. Thank you.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  That was ATT. It (and all the other exposed operations) hardly support the statement that "all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US government".
  - xtian 6y ago
    The US defense and intelligence apparatuses have been deeply intertwined with private enterprise for many decades. This is a matter of historical fact. But I totally understand if it's more comfortable for you to believe that now things are different despite the fact that no one was ever held to account for what happened in the past.
    - ethbr0 6y ago
      There is no proof that I'm aware of that all telecom companies and very likely all major tech companies are spying for the US goverent. To be clear, evidence that some telecoms have, or that some major tech companies have is insufficient. Extrapolating some into all is unreasonable. Do you have more proof it's the latter?
tehjoker 6y ago
Right, that's why I said "very likely" instead of "proven". However, at the point it's pretty clear the tech companies are all competing for pentagon contracts (e.g. Project Maven, JEDI, etc) so the 2013 information has significant potential to be dated. Also, there's these nuggets: https://www.fastcompany.com/40481463/facebook-wants-to-hire-people-with-national-security-clearances https://www.fastcompany.com/40481463/facebook-wants-to-hire-... https://www.rt.com/usa/399256-mattis-amazon-bezos-trump/ https://www.rt.com/usa/399256-mattis-amazon-bezos-trump/ Thinking America's largest monopolies and America's government and foreign policy are at odds over more than superficial things is probably not an accurate view of the world. America uses our corporations to advance nebulously defined "national security interests" and corporations use the government to get rich(er).