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NSA targets the privacy-conscious

daserste.ndr.de

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Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#161

Post by TeMPOraL »

enraged_camel wrote: post #141
Holbein wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You won't get to hear about how the trial turns out from your grave. Well, in contrast to you, I plan to enjoy my life instead of wasting it by worrying about some possible bad actor spying on me, which is what I'm must read is how you spend your life. Sure, fight the NSA by engaging a little bit politically, and buying the right things. But apart from that, don't worry so much, man.

>>Well, in contrast to you, I plan to enjoy my life instead of wasting it by worrying about some possible bad actor spying on me, which is what I'm must read is how you spend your life. Let me guess: you are a straight white dude with a comfortable income.

Tangential, but I think it's high time for someone to raise awareness about the discrimination of white straight males by all those social justice warriors everywhere. Seriously, no matter what we do or say, we're overprivileged and the source of all evil. sigh

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#163

Post by TeMPOraL »

lucb1e wrote: post #155
junto wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can make it cheaper still by waiting until more than one target are in the same strike zone. This of course only matters if you really care about the money. I assume that the large black budgets of the CIA and NSA are not really a concern to those that matter. Ideally you spend more every year. That's the usual policy of government agencies, otherwise the following year you get a budget cut.

"DronEfficiency (YC2034): better protection of our country and spending less tax money due to improved algorithms!" (Disclaimer: I'm not insinuating that YC supports this)

"Luc Doevil from DronEfficiency: We've collected 10M of initial funding; that's two more rounds and we'll be able to buy our first Hellfire for testing."

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#164

Post by TeMPOraL »

pyre wrote: post #129
sliverstorm wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only as good as the inputs, yes. But if it's a halfway decent filter, it will include machine learning, e.g. a Bayesian filter, and if "is Muslim" turns out to have low correspondence with actual criminal activity that input will quickly be deweighted. Or perhaps paired with other aspects- e.g., perhaps "is Muslim" is of no consequence and "Googles Jihad" is also of no consequence, but "is Muslim" && "Googles Jihad"…

> If a learning Bayesian filter targets a certain demographic, there probably IS something to it. I'm pretty sure both Bayes and Laplace would not agree with the categorization of Bayesian probability as some sort of panacea for determining truth in criminal matters.

Not for determining truth, but the degree of confidence in it, yes. Probability is the tool to get to the truth, if you allow for your information to be incomplete and uncertain.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#165

Post by Create »

We begin therefore where they are determined not to end, with the question whether any form of democratic self-government, anywhere, is consistent with the kind of massive, pervasive, surveillance into which the Unites States government has led not only us but the world.

This should not actually be a complicated inquiry.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/27/-sp-privac...

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#166

Post by digitalengineer »

tomphoolery wrote: post #92
pessimizer wrote: post #20

Of course this happens, and it's an obvious technique. I'm sure that not having a facebook account adds to your score, using AdBlock adds to your score, mentioning the NSA online adds to your score, refusing cookies adds to your score, using Linux adds to your score, etc. That's how a police state works. (XKeyScore += 5) My mother was involved in civil rights, so she has a file. It's fine that I have a file too. Hope…

I wish I could find out my XKeyScore. I'm genuinely interested in how threatening the NSA believes average people are.

Someone should be a Check-My-XKeyScore site. Answer several questions (do you have a VPN? Use Linux, etc) and show the submitter how high he ranks in the NSA's eyes. 'share via Twitter etc' Could be fun and easy way to show people just how crazy this is...

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#167

Post by mikecb »

pessimizer wrote: post #111
throwaway5752 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's nonsense. If a credible actor poses a threat, they will attempt to do a competent job hiding their communications and data. Those that don't are by definition less competent and less likely to pose a threat. Pardon the bluntless, but it seems like an a priori conclusion that only people taking pains to hide their data/communications should be targeted. That is not because the vast majority of those people are…

>Fire in a crowded theater This is a quote by a judge in a trial that put someone in prison for passing out antiwar fliers. It's good to know the source of our philosophies. edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._United_States When we accept that "shouting fire in a crowded theater" isn't protected speech, we're backing up an argument that was used to put someone in prison for non-violent anti-state speech. N…

You're citing to a case that was overturned more than 40 years ago.[1] So I wouldn't really describe it as our 'philosophy' whatever that means.

[1] http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1968/1968_492

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#168

Post by pyre »

sliverstorm wrote: post #134
pyre wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If a learning Bayesian filter targets a certain demographic, there probably IS something to it. I'm pretty sure both Bayes and Laplace would not agree with the categorization of Bayesian probability as some sort of panacea for determining truth in criminal matters.

Yes, it is just probability and not truth. But an arrest is often a "guess" with some degree of confidence, not absolute certainty. Thus is a "weight" or "probability" not perfectly applicable? Trials & convictions is a different matter, more suited to truth-seeking.

Don't disregard the effects that 'just an arrest' have on people. For example, being arrested for child porn-related charges, but not charged / convicted isn't exactly a no-op.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#169

Post by noobhacker »

I feel quite ambiguous about these discriminating techniques. For example, it is okay for us to give females / older people lower insurance rate because that's what the statistics says. Likewise, it's likely that people who search for privacy-enhancing software are more likely to engage in "subversive" activity. So it's hard for me to determine which kind of discrimination is justified and which not.

Re: NSA targets the privacy-conscious

#170

Post by cLeEOGPw »

terranstyler wrote: post #5

Warning: The first sentence goes "If you read Boing Boing, the NSA considers you a target for deep surveillance". So, if you find this interesting, maybe you shouldn't read it.

If you are here, you can be damn sure you were already on their list long time ago.
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