4 ms·

I think you misunderstood the term "cost" as used here.

• spacefight 12y ago
  Not sure, no. Why?
  • tombrossman 12y ago
    I think cost can be looked at in terms of money, time, risk, effort, or any number of other things and this is what is being referred to above. That point is probably moot though, as all will translate to additional financial costs as you mention.
• peatmoss 12y ago
  Insofar as analyst hours, kwh, computing hardware, etc. can all be converted to dollars, spacefight and I are talking about comparable units. And the idea of reducing the cost for intelligence agencies to surveil us to save money is an interesting one. While I agree that paying more taxes for a dubiously useful "service" is bad, I disagree that the right response is to reduce that marginal cost--i.e. be more transparent in the face of government surveillance. Under a regime of high marginal costs, I'd like to believe that the NSA would simply be more selective in its targets, rather than be successful in securing additional funding.
  • aftbit 12y ago
    Not to mention, the larger the black budget, the harder it is to hide, and the more outrage when something like Snowden happens.