I am reminded of the story linked on HN a few days ago detailing how many people were in solitary confinement in US prisons and how they ended up there. Many o

I am reminded of the story linked on HN a few days ago detailing how many people were in solitary confinement in US prisons and how they ended up there. Many of the people were in solitary because the bureaucracy had decided that they were associated with a gang. And even if the link was tenuous then into solitary they would go being allowed out of their cell for an hour a day. I can imagine this dragnet of NSA data being used one day for similar automatic spurious bureaucratic purposes. If the wrong person rings your mobile phone asking about something you're selling on craigslist then say goodbye to your security clearance. And heaven help you if you get involved in the US criminal justice system.