On Sun, 2009-08-30 at 09:53 -0700, Lisa Kachold wrote:
> "While the details are unknown, credible evidence indicates that
> billions of everyday communications of ordinary Americans are swept up
> by government computers and run through a process that includes both
> data-mining and review of content, to try to figure out whether any of
> us were involved in illegal or terrorist-related activity. That means
> that even the most personal and private of our electronic
> communications–between doctors and patients, between husbands and
> wives, or between children and parents–are subject to review by
> computer algorithms programmed by government bureaucrats or by the
> bureaucrats themselves. (Cindy Cohn, “Lawless Surveillance,
> Warrantless Rationales,” American Constitution Society, August 17,
> 2009)

Yes, analytics is becoming a very strong force in the market and will
continue to grow. Not only is the government monitoring your
conversations but also private corporations are monitoring your
activities. Turn off third party cookies in Firefox and you'll realize
how much is actually being watched on all the common pages. Have you
ever noticed your browser waiting for something from google-analytics to
finish downloading (say, an invisible GIF?) before a page is fully
loaded? 

Watching your emails is no different than watching your browser, and
your online posts. The good news is that there is no centralized
networking hubs that allow for all data to be analyzed due to the design
of the Internet and it's nuclear holocaust protections. (And monitoring
exit points outside our country is most-likely the goal of the USA's
involvement here.) 

What will happen is that everybody will move to https, the "secure web".
However, there will always be a way to crack and watch that and then
httpss (super secure) will be born...etc. It's a game...always being
played. 

As long as FUD can be played upon, people will be preyed upon. 

My opinion is simple...your government is just as scary as your
corporations. Both of them take the same actions with different
end-games. Governments spy for protection, corporations spy for profits.
Unfortunately, governments are paid for my corporations so you can see
how easily their goals are intertwined.

Ultimately, there is nothing to fear really. People should read the
short story my Marshall Brain called
"MANNA" (http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm). It's almost
"1984'ish" but shows how people need to learn to get the computer to
work *for* people, not people working for the computer. 

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