Donald Kerr, principal deputy director of national intelligence, wants Americans to redefine privacy.
Privacy no longer can mean anonymity, says Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence. Instead, it should mean that government and businesses properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.
And don’t they have a stellar track record at doing just that?
The most contentious issue in the new legislation is whether to shield telecommunications companies from civil lawsuits for allegedly giving the government access to people’s private e-mails and phone calls without a FISA court order between 2001 and 2007.
The central witness in a California lawsuit against AT&T says the government is vacuuming up billions of e-mails and phone calls as they pass through an AT&T switching station in San Francisco, California.
The thug in the White House has promised to veto any bill that does not grant Telcos immunity from suits such as this one.
Kurt Opsahl from the EFF stated, “There is something fundamentally different from the government having information about you than private parties,” he said. “We shouldn’t have to give people the choice between taking advantage of modern communication tools and sacrificing their privacy.”
“It’s just another ‘trust us, we’re the government.”
Thanks, KB
The actual problem with putting all the pieces in place for a modern hi-tech Police State, is the real danger that some group of assholes will, sooner or later (bet sooner.) put the finishing touches on it that make it a real live one. Once in place it’ll be difficult to ever get rid of.
We need papa government to protect us from the big bad boogeyman, and tell us that everything will be OK. All we have to do is shut up and do what it tells us to do, and not ask any questions.
There are some things that we can do to keep the boogeyman at bay:
a) Listen only to official news from papa government, since what they say will keep us safe.
b) Spy on our neighbors, friends and family. Let the government know about anything suspicious that they may do, such as speak in some language that you don’t understand.
c) Provide all information that they may or may nor request, including listening to all your conversations, reading all your email, and tracking all your social contacts.
d) Accept the fact that if you do not fully and without question support whatever papa government says, then you are a coward and a traitor.
e) Habeas Corpus, your right to be told what you are charged with when you are arrested, to be kept in jail after a fair trial, etc, is no longer possible after 9/11, since the boogeyman is out to get you. If papa government wants to, it should be able to kidnap you and put you in jail secretly and forever in order to protect the rest of us from your criminal mind.
f) Do not expect any accountability from people that work for papa government, either personal or financial. Accept that there is some reason behind everything that papa government does, and it is for your own good.
g) Take responsibility for yourself. If a hurricane comes, and your family drowns, it’s your own fault for not owning a boat. If you do own a boat, papa government can take it away at any time for no reason besides them wanting it.
h) All your financial transactions must be electronic, no cash allowed. This is the only way that papa government can ferret out the evildoers.
i) You may not leave or enter the country unless approved by papa government. Travel to anywhere outside the continental 48 is restricted to those authorized. to do so. Papa government reserves the right not to let you back in.
j) A national ID is required, and must be used in voting machines, airports, toll booths, gas stations, and for the purchase of anything that papa government may consider dangerous.
k) All internet access and use must be tied directly to the national ID. Access of any website outside the country is allowed only upon permission from papa government.
This list is based on North Korea’s ‘Homeland Loves Me’ document.
#21 – Once in place it’ll be difficult to ever get rid of.
Without one helluva lot of bombs…