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That's the thing...I [we] don't know what keywords trigger deeper searches, or how exactly our browsing/typing history is tied together in which database. If I

by vkb 12y ago

That's the thing...I [we] don't know what keywords trigger deeper searches, or how exactly our browsing/typing history is tied together in which database. If I type 'Bin Laden' in a chat, does it flag me somewhere? Or is it filtered out as useless? If I write, 'I had a blast at a party last night' (a really simplistic example, but you get the point) or 'Check out this story about this guy who wanted to kill Obama..he was crazy!',does that do anything, or are those keywords ignored? What's considered a false positive, and what's a true positive? The algorithms do the filtering, but the humans write the algorithms. What's the error rate? I think I am most afraid of what I don't know about how this works.

blisterpeanuts 12y ago
OK, so suppose you are flagged. It could happen; it might have already happened. What's next: you'll end up on a no-fly list? You'll be arrested?
- vkb 12y ago
  Yes. Or, again, I don't know. That's the terrifying part. But given that we know the surveillance machine is much deeper than we anticipated, I can't come up with a worst case scenario anymore, which is what scares me the most.
  - beeworker 12y ago
    Worst case scenario: you die, or you die after lots of torture. Why not look at the most probable case, which is nothing happens? There's a quote from Richard Stallman that applies here: "They seem to have learned the habit of cowering before authority even when not actually threatened. How very nice for authority. I decided not to learn this particular lesson." Personally, I fear writing certain things with a username that's easily associated to my real name by the public at large, not the government with their clever tools. That's because I know the real and not-so-improbable consequences of doing so[0]: losing my job and getting blacklisted from the entire industry I've spent most my life trying to improve in and contribute to. It can be economic death. The threat of the mob is much realer to me than the threat of the government. [0] https://handleshaus.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/bullied-and-badgered-pressured-and-purged/ https://handleshaus.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/bullied-and-bad...
- dthal 12y ago
  I suppose stuff like this [1] could start to happen. Note that Moxie Marlinspike is not actually in/involved with wikileaks. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie_Marlinspike#Traveling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie_Marlinspike#Traveling

by vkb 12y ago

blisterpeanuts 12y ago

OK, so suppose you are flagged. It could happen; it might have already happened. What's next: you'll end up on a no-fly list? You'll be arrested?

vkb 12y ago
Yes. Or, again, I don't know. That's the terrifying part. But given that we know the surveillance machine is much deeper than we anticipated, I can't come up with a worst case scenario anymore, which is what scares me the most.
- beeworker 12y ago
  Worst case scenario: you die, or you die after lots of torture. Why not look at the most probable case, which is nothing happens? There's a quote from Richard Stallman that applies here: "They seem to have learned the habit of cowering before authority even when not actually threatened. How very nice for authority. I decided not to learn this particular lesson." Personally, I fear writing certain things with a username that's easily associated to my real name by the public at large, not the government with their clever tools. That's because I know the real and not-so-improbable consequences of doing so[0]: losing my job and getting blacklisted from the entire industry I've spent most my life trying to improve in and contribute to. It can be economic death. The threat of the mob is much realer to me than the threat of the government. [0] https://handleshaus.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/bullied-and-badgered-pressured-and-purged/ https://handleshaus.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/bullied-and-bad...
dthal 12y ago
I suppose stuff like this [1] could start to happen. Note that Moxie Marlinspike is not actually in/involved with wikileaks. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie_Marlinspike#Traveling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie_Marlinspike#Traveling