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It's an interesting tactic. I think a lot of people in the tech community are a bit skeptical of the NSA, CIA, etc. I wonder if the publicist's notion here is t

It's an interesting tactic. I think a lot of people in the tech community are a bit skeptical of the NSA, CIA, etc. I wonder if the publicist's notion here is to gain some ground in public sentiment by pitting the intelligence apparatus against a yet more hated enemy -- big tech.

elliekelly 6y ago
I don’t hold Google in high regard and actively avoid using their products but this article has raised my opinion of them ever so slightly. I’m pleasantly surprised to see they aren’t (yet) completely in bed with the “counter terrorism”-justifies-all thinking that seems to be prevalent among western governments and their surveillance tactics.
- throwaway671 6y ago
  > I’m pleasantly surprised to see they aren’t (yet) completely in bed with the “counter terrorism”. I think it would leak! At least having seen Google from the inside, I don't think Google can keep a nefarious secret.
deelowe 6y ago
Most conservatives I know put three letter agencies on a pedestal and loathe big tech. I remembering being baffled by the previous apple iphone fiasco. They we adamant that apple should have backdoors in everyone's phone so the fbi could catch anonymous bad people while at the same time espousing how they don't trust apple. It was baffling.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  Important to notice that political parties aren't a person. The people saying those things were neocons, and they've mostly switched parties now. Witness the liars from the CIA who used to appear on Fox now appearing on MSNBC or CNN instead. Meanwhile arch-neocon Liz Cheney, who presumably hasn't switched parties because a Democrat would lose in Wyoming, is facing a primary challenger from within the GOP.
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    Liz knows she has a long future in public life, without ever having to win an election again. There will always be a place for a previously-elected legacy reptile in the bureaucracy, as she gradually takes over her father's client book. She'll never have a problem getting Senate confirmation, no matter where they decide to stick her.
- matheusmoreira 6y ago
  Funny... I'd expect conservatives to believe in less arbitrary government interference, not more.
  - jessaustin 6y ago
    "Conservatives" have pretended to be "libertarians" for so long that neither term really has a meaning anymore (in USA). Those who actually value freedom are anarchists. ISTM "conservatives" were always happy to oppress unfortunates, and likewise happy to enlist the help of the state in doing so. They invented police and FBI for that purpose.
casefields 6y ago
Yes, that's why they used the active voice with counterterrorist operation. It's essentially the same debate of enhanced interrogations and the ticking time bomb. A lot of the time it's mentally ill people like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City_Seven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City_Seven They want you to picture Osama in these cases, when usually it's a bunch of buffoons.

elliekelly 6y ago

I don’t hold Google in high regard and actively avoid using their products but this article has raised my opinion of them ever so slightly. I’m pleasantly surprised to see they aren’t (yet) completely in bed with the “counter terrorism”-justifies-all thinking that seems to be prevalent among western governments and their surveillance tactics.

throwaway671 6y ago
> I’m pleasantly surprised to see they aren’t (yet) completely in bed with the “counter terrorism”. I think it would leak! At least having seen Google from the inside, I don't think Google can keep a nefarious secret.

deelowe 6y ago

Most conservatives I know put three letter agencies on a pedestal and loathe big tech. I remembering being baffled by the previous apple iphone fiasco. They we adamant that apple should have backdoors in everyone's phone so the fbi could catch anonymous bad people while at the same time espousing how they don't trust apple. It was baffling.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
Important to notice that political parties aren't a person. The people saying those things were neocons, and they've mostly switched parties now. Witness the liars from the CIA who used to appear on Fox now appearing on MSNBC or CNN instead. Meanwhile arch-neocon Liz Cheney, who presumably hasn't switched parties because a Democrat would lose in Wyoming, is facing a primary challenger from within the GOP.
- jessaustin 6y ago
  Liz knows she has a long future in public life, without ever having to win an election again. There will always be a place for a previously-elected legacy reptile in the bureaucracy, as she gradually takes over her father's client book. She'll never have a problem getting Senate confirmation, no matter where they decide to stick her.
matheusmoreira 6y ago
Funny... I'd expect conservatives to believe in less arbitrary government interference, not more.
- jessaustin 6y ago
  "Conservatives" have pretended to be "libertarians" for so long that neither term really has a meaning anymore (in USA). Those who actually value freedom are anarchists. ISTM "conservatives" were always happy to oppress unfortunates, and likewise happy to enlist the help of the state in doing so. They invented police and FBI for that purpose.

casefields 6y ago

Yes, that's why they used the active voice with counterterrorist operation. It's essentially the same debate of enhanced interrogations and the ticking time bomb. A lot of the time it's mentally ill people like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City_Seven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_City_Seven They want you to picture Osama in these cases, when usually it's a bunch of buffoons.