Comments on: He Sees You When You're Sleeping...

He Sees You When You're Sleeping...

darren — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:10:46 -0800

Big Brother Really Exists, And He's Not Who You Think He Is. While most of those in the privacy realm have been focusing on keeping the government from spying on its citizens, the government has made an end-run: Letting the private sector do it for them. ChoicePoint, an Atlanta-based spinoff from credit agency Equifax, now has more than 200 terrabytes of data on us, and as previously noted, they're not always very good at it. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

By: Slothrup

Slothrup — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:33:15 -0800

I've heard it a lot, but I still don't understand the point of view that says, "better business spying on me than the government." After all, any business data can be gotten by the government -- and with laws like the Patriot Act, they don't even need to pretend to have a warrant or subpoena to do it.

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:36:43 -0800

What are Blogs: Brother's Logistics.

By: Postroad

Postroad — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:47:49 -0800

Years ago, reading up a good deal on gypsy life, esp. in am3erica, I came to recognize the wisdom of their way: fake everything. Driver's license, addresses, names, etc--leave no paper trail. Have no numbers attached to you that are real, not even social security...other than that, They KnowYou and..........

By: weston

weston — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:58:29 -0800

Self link. Fiction, but if you think it's impossible, think about how often you're probably on some kind of camera in a public place right now. Wave to the ATM next time you use it, and security cameras in the grocery store, traffic cams on the road... but don't look up. ;)

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:27:50 -0800

ChoicePoint's role in the Florida voter-registration lists was due to their merger with Database Technologies. The founder of DBT then went on to develop the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange program. Be afraid indeed.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:39:29 -0800

The main link discusses the rivalry between ChoicePoint and Matrix, but not their possible connections. I wonder if there are any others besides Asher's involvement in DBT and Matrix. Great post, darren.

By: nofundy

nofundy — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:39:50 -0800

The CEO is a Bush Pioneer and a personal friend of Katherine Harris and Jeb! Bush so I'm sure all of you "Bush-haters" are just being overly paranoid. Dear Leader can do no wrong. Or not.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:51:18 -0800

After all, any business data can be gotten by the government -- and with laws like the Patriot Act, they don't even need to pretend to have a warrant or subpoena to do it. there is no significant difference anymore between business and government. business *is* the government.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:55:28 -0800

This is the kind of stuff that really scares the crap out of me. The loss of privacy and the loss of the right to privacy in the wake of 9/11 is the most dangerous thing Bush has ever done. Right now, the government can legally detain you without benefit of counsel, without charging you and without ever letting your loved ones know where you are. What fucking country are we living in anyway? These people are crooks even if they aren't breaking the law, they are breaking the spirit of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This sucks! And then there's the whole aspect of the last election being fixed by unintentionally removing a huge bunch of voters in Florida. What's next? Arresting people for thought crimes? Or daydreaming about overthrowing the government? Hell, the Secret Service questioned Eminem about a song in which he talks about killing the president, note that he didn't say which president but it was enough anyway. People refuse to see our rights being eroded away from beneath us. Something's gotta give and, so far, it looks like its us, the people.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 13:03:55 -0800

Combine this post with this news, Many Federal Agencies Flunk Security and things get even worse (though I had a hard time thinking that was possible).

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 13:05:48 -0800

i always give ATM's and gas pumps the finger. i figure i'm less than 6 months away from involuntary committment.

By: zekinskia

zekinskia — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 13:32:11 -0800

From the NPR transcript, posted on ChoicePoint's site: "JAMES LEE, ChoicePoint Marketing Director: Today, you can do a basic background check that just confirms a person is who they say they are and that they have no criminal history for less than $25. ABRAMSON: Landlords can screen tenants. Employers can find out exactly who they're hiring. Insurance companies can find out what kind of risk you really are. All that power, of course, brings with it awesome responsibility. And James Lee says the company has always been aware of the privacy implications. JAMES LEE: Our business model and our policies are all built on respecting the individual's data. It's not ours. It doesn't belong to ChoicePoint. It belongs to the individual whose life is being reviewed, or their information is being reviewed. It's theirs." But wait, James Lee, you just said it could be mine for $25 the very last time you opened your mouth. Does the $25 go to "the individual whose life is being reviewed"?? No, it goes to you. So you make $25 off of THEIR information. I just don't understand how people can swallow this idiocy. BTW, this is a great example of doublethink (believing two contradictory ideas at the same time) imho, speaking of Big Brother.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:02:12 -0800

i just don't understand why the datacenters haven't been bombed.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:13:02 -0800

double plus ungood...but not a surprise.

By: moonbiter

moonbiter — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:39:26 -0800

Come on guys and girls! They are harnessing "the positive power of information!"

By: nickmark

nickmark — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:06:56 -0800

"think about how often you're probably on some kind of camera in a public place right now" Or know for sure. There are projects in New York and Minneapolis (disclosure: I'm active in the MSCP, which is nowhere near complete) to document the cameras. I don't know of any other way find out exactly how many there are than walking around and looking. Regardless of how you feel about them, without knowing that, there's no way to have a meaningful discussion of the topics of surveillance and privacy. To my knowledge, though, these are the only two US cities where things like this have been undertaken.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:09:47 -0800

http://www.franken.de/users/tentacle/papers/hiddencams.pdf

By: Hall

Hall — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 17:07:00 -0800

I'm with quonsar.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 17:10:34 -0800

The link above is dead and leads to a happy little story about the Wright brothers. But there's always the Google Cache version!

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 17:41:16 -0800

there's also the archive of the article, the link isn't dead, it's to a url whose content changes weekly or more.

By: dg

dg — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 19:08:25 -0800

Ah, now it makes more sense. I thought maybe the Wright Brothers had been reincarnated and were spying on us with cameras mounted on the Kitty Hawk.

By: Leonard

Leonard — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 04:48:18 -0800

What are all you people up to that you're so worried about me finding out?

By: homunculus

homunculus — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 14:29:13 -0800

For Sale: The American Voter Mining the Vein of Voter Rolls

By: bison

bison — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 19:18:40 -0800

quonsar & hall: think Fight Club

By: eustacescrubb

eustacescrubb — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 03:28:03 -0800

"I imagine there is some expensive technology at work, something on the molecular level, invisible to the naked eye, light enough to float in air. Perhaps thousands, millions of tiny receptors released into the air, each sending tiny signals back to a closed room off in the heights of this facility, with technicians peering into screens. I am visible, audible from every possible angle. I'm a reality TV show. " (Self Link, also fiction.)