A newly declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reveals that the federal government is buying troves of data about Americans.
  • ScrollinMyDayAway@lemm.eeEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    Just my tin-foil hat opinion, but if anyone thinks the US is not heading towards a surveillance State on par with China, then I have a bridge to sell you.

  • Rottcodd@kbin.social
    7·
    1 year ago

    Of course they are.

    A pertinent point that Solzhenitsyn made in Gulag Archipelago - he said that in all the time he spent in the gulags, he never once met a person who had not been legitimately convicted of a genuine crime.

    The way it worked was simply that the USSR had such an extensive and nebulous set of laws that it was effectively impossible for anyone to obey all of them all the time, and so much information on all its citizens that whenever an official wanted someone disappeared, it was just a matter of checking through their records and finding which law(s) they had broken, then arresting them, trying them and convicting them.

    The US oligarchy is actively pursuing the same basic strategy, and for the same basic reasons.

  • TheRazorX@kbin.social
    1·
    1 year ago

    The hilarious part (in a bleak fashion), is I can’t find many other articles discussing this.

    Then everyone will panic and go crazy when someone like Trump wins and they have access to all this. History repeats.

    • Dee@lemmings.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      I can’t find many other articles discussing this.

      We’ve known they’ve been doing this since at least Snowden, what’s the story?

      Remember that government agency that hoovers up all our data? Yeah, they’re still doing that. Only they don’t have to try as hard because they can just buy our info instead of snooping for it (but they’re also still snooping).

      Maybe it’s good to remind people it’s still happening because apparently everyone forgot we were told they’ve been doing this, for a while.

      • SterlingVapor@slrpnk.net
        1·
        1 year ago

        Yes and no - prism and related programs weren’t that big a deal (besides morally and legally) - the NSA was collecting far more data than they could use at scale. It was a problem, but realistically it wouldn’t affect normal people - you’d have to catch a lot of attention first to even be searched in that system. It couldn’t be used for law enforcement or anything wide scale - the collection was there, but the analysis didn’t scale

        It was a problem because of where we are now - AI advancement means not only can they now process the insane amount of data they ingest and make terrifying associations, they can use the ridiculous amount of compute they’ve been building out to actually use all this data

        We’re most of the way down the slippery slope now, and still accelerating fast. The capability makes 1984 look quaint, and having the ability to flick on systems China drools over is pretty concerning

        People don’t even know they’re trying to make us use id to use sites “to protect the children”. Any site that might be inappropriate (of which, social media fits under the current definitions of) would be responsible for children getting access to their services - storing driver’s licenses seems to be the popular idea for compliance. Google’s web DRM might be pushed out so fast to offer this kind of service too

        Kosa has bipartisan support, the president has come out strongly supporting it, and it’s insane to me that people still don’t care

      • AfricanExpansionist@lemmy.ml
        0·
        1 year ago

        Nobody forgot. We all depend on the internet for daily life and livelihoods. We are largely powerless against these faceless institutions

        • Dee@lemmings.world
          0·
          1 year ago

          Not that I disagree with you, but I was more responding to the fact that they said they can’t find anybody else reporting about it. I was saying that there’s not much to report because this is kind of old news. I understand why more news agencies aren’t picking up on this, like, government agencies known for sucking up data are still sucking up data. -shrug-

          • TheRazorX@kbin.social
            1·
            1 year ago

            I don’t disagree, and you’re absolutely right, but i’d argue there’s still a difference between a government organization collecting the data themselves, and the same organization buying it from other brokers. It’s semantics sure, but it’s a new dimension of this fucketry.

  • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
    15·
    1 year ago

    Lol i am.not concerned at all because whoever doesn’t know about “5 eyes” should go and read about it so its just not the US.

      • YⓄ乙 @aussie.zone
        12·
        1 year ago

        I understand where you coming from but as a regular doing 9-5 , I can’t change anything until and unless every other regular like you push for a change so I’ve accepted it.

        • scottywh@lemmy.world
          2·
          1 year ago

          This reply is far more logical than your original comment.

          Laughing about oppression is sillier than just accepting it.