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Yet again, we arrive at a, "could" story, and not a "does" story. The NSA "could" have you arrested for a crime you didn't commit by sharing intel it's collect

Yet again, we arrive at a, "could" story, and not a "does" story. The NSA "could" have you arrested for a crime you didn't commit by sharing intel it's collected about you! The NYPD "could" use your E-ZPass to track your movements through NYC! Google "could" access your Wi-Fi password as it's synced from your Android device! I think people forget sometimes that 1984 was a work of fiction, and never actually happened.

Zikes 13y ago
The FBI "could" track your movements via cell phone data. The FBI "could" then provide that data to the DEA to help make an arrest. The NSA "could" keep a log of everyone you ever call or who calls you. Not that we should have ever cared about those possibilities until they came to light, leaving us scrambling to cope with the consequences and attempt to repair the damage after the fact.
- diminoten 13y ago
  Arrests are allowed to happen to innocent people. Arrests aren't convictions, convictions are. People still get trials. They still get due process. If the DEA/FBI can't provide evidence to the state/federal prosecutor such that a person is found guilty of a crime by a jury of his peers, then a person does not get convicted. You're saying the government is committing thought-crime. Just because a person owns a gun doesn't mean they're going to kill their neighbor, and just because the FBI/CIA/NSA/Local PD "could" abuse its power, does not mean they "do".
  - RHSeeger 13y ago
    Of course, the recent revelations that they "do" does mean they "do".
    - diminoten 13y ago
      What revelations that they do? So far all revelations have been surveillance related, and not arrest and conviction related. No one's been provably put to jail because of the NSA's programs.
      - jlgreco 13y ago
        I guess you were asleep during the "parallel construction" revelations.
PavlovsCat 13y ago
I think people forget sometimes that 1984 was a work of fiction, and never actually happened. I don't think it's fiction, and I think it had happened before it was written even. There are still bugs of course, but those are being worked out as we speak.
- diminoten 13y ago
  1984 was a work of fiction, that is undebatable. It did not happen. It's not based in reality whatsoever, and there is no indication that anything written in the novel logically carries from anything else written in the novel. Things happen in 1984 because it makes for a good story, not because that's what would happen next.
  - PavlovsCat 13y ago
    It's not "undebatable", it'd just be a waste of time to debate it with you, if you have your conclusion prior to examination. Things happen in 1984 because it makes for a good story I see you're not familiar with Orwell and his motives for writing at all.

Zikes 13y ago

The FBI "could" track your movements via cell phone data. The FBI "could" then provide that data to the DEA to help make an arrest. The NSA "could" keep a log of everyone you ever call or who calls you. Not that we should have ever cared about those possibilities until they came to light, leaving us scrambling to cope with the consequences and attempt to repair the damage after the fact.

diminoten 13y ago
Arrests are allowed to happen to innocent people. Arrests aren't convictions, convictions are. People still get trials. They still get due process. If the DEA/FBI can't provide evidence to the state/federal prosecutor such that a person is found guilty of a crime by a jury of his peers, then a person does not get convicted. You're saying the government is committing thought-crime. Just because a person owns a gun doesn't mean they're going to kill their neighbor, and just because the FBI/CIA/NSA/Local PD "could" abuse its power, does not mean they "do".
- RHSeeger 13y ago
  Of course, the recent revelations that they "do" does mean they "do".
  - diminoten 13y ago
    What revelations that they do? So far all revelations have been surveillance related, and not arrest and conviction related. No one's been provably put to jail because of the NSA's programs.
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      I guess you were asleep during the "parallel construction" revelations.

PavlovsCat 13y ago

I think people forget sometimes that 1984 was a work of fiction, and never actually happened. I don't think it's fiction, and I think it had happened before it was written even. There are still bugs of course, but those are being worked out as we speak.

diminoten 13y ago
1984 was a work of fiction, that is undebatable. It did not happen. It's not based in reality whatsoever, and there is no indication that anything written in the novel logically carries from anything else written in the novel. Things happen in 1984 because it makes for a good story, not because that's what would happen next.
- PavlovsCat 13y ago
  It's not "undebatable", it'd just be a waste of time to debate it with you, if you have your conclusion prior to examination. Things happen in 1984 because it makes for a good story I see you're not familiar with Orwell and his motives for writing at all.