NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show

Post by slg » Wed, Dec 04, 2013, 10:47 PM UTC

swalkergibson wrote: post #29

I am now numb to these revelations, as I suspect are most of the technology community. The only thing that will make the rest of the general populace wake up is if someone on TV says they are vehemently opposed to it. Someone who has trotted out the, "I have nothing to hide, so I am not worried." I believe the only way this will happen is if Edward Snowden specifically targeted one of those people and created a file…

Post by ahlatimer » Wed, Dec 04, 2013, 10:47 PM UTC

sanskritabelt wrote: post #93

sukuriant wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed on the 20% of the population of the US that doesn't use the internet. Is there even 20% of the US population outside of 100 miles from the shore? Also, you can't use a cellphone without them knowing who you are with high certainty. It only takes 3 points of location data to identify a person the vast majority of the time[1]. Using a cell phone that you paid for with cash is insufficient. [1] http://ww…

Rough estimate from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territo... suggests that about 2/3 of americans live in a state bordering the ocean, so about 100 million americans further away from the shore. What that has to do with anything, god only knows, unless you meant something like '100 miles away from the border', and even then I'm at a loss. Go visit a flyover state sometime. Most of the country's…

Post by PavlovsCat » Wed, Dec 04, 2013, 10:50 PM UTC

CWuestefeld wrote: post #85

PavlovsCat wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, and the soldiers don't make the orders, the generals don't make the politics, the politicians just try to keep the military industrial complex fat and snugly and the citizens happy, the citizens just crave security because that's what the media says is what citizens crave while the military industrial complex just seeks profit because it's required to by stockholders and everyone else involved, who are just try…

So why is that in polite company, even those that are opposed to our various wars are obliged to toe the line, "we support our troops"? Even in 21st century America, we continue to fool ourselves, thinking that somehow soldiers can be noble, heroes even, all the while being engaged something that is immoral.

Post by Amadou » Wed, Dec 04, 2013, 10:52 PM UTC

tokipin wrote: post #114

Amadou wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree. I am really tired of that Brin story being constantly cited by people without thinking through the consequences - of which there are many. One of the biggest is the destruction of creativity. When people know that their actions are under constant surveillance it creates an enormous cognitive load. They have to constantly evaluate everything they do as to how it might appear to a critical observer.…

i think @daveid's point is common, and i haven't actually read anything by Brin on the matter so i don't know what counterpoint he might make. maybe tracking itself would be tracked? maybe person X is watching you watch person Y? i think in general, however, with that much information, people will simply not care what everyone else is doing. part of what makes "private" information interesting is its rarity. and i do…

Post by swalsh » Wed, Dec 04, 2013, 10:54 PM UTC

pit wrote: post #82

swalsh wrote: post #4

Meta topic, but it seems kind of rude to link to the print page. The washington post is already a very readable site, If i don't want ads, i'll use adblock.

I humbly disagree. I was waiting for the site to "finish loading", and when I realized that it had, I was delighted.