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10 Reasons why Government Spying is a Bad Idea
Several people are saying, "Why do I care if the government is spying on me? I have nothing to hide!" You might be shocked to hear that this isn't about just you. Here's 10 reasons why the Prism program is a really really bad idea.
- It's illegal – The Patriot Act creates a secret court called FISA that makes decisions that can't be reviewed in any other court under the cover of national security. The FISA court has issued the biggest subpoena in the history of the world to gather and store information about anything and everything that occurs on the Internet. FISA has nullified the Constitution which is the core document that defines America and establishes the rule of law. America exists in name only.
- Freedom of the Press is Gone – You find out there's a secret torture camp the government set up like Abu Graib and you want to anonymously contact a reporter about it? Not any more. The reporter's phones are tapped. They know who called, when they called, and where they called from. They know everywhere you go from the GPS in your cell phone and where the reporters go. If you are thinking of blowing whistles – the know who you are and where to find you. Thanks to Verizon the NSA is a member of your friends and family plan.
- It pisses off the world – Even if we make ourselves believe the lie the rest of the world isn't buying it. If we can spy on them then they can spy on us. On what basis does America get to spy on the world and not anyone else? Like Gitmo, it causes us to appear like a lawless Bananna Republic.
- It disrespects other countries – By saying, "We're not spying on Americans, we're just spying on foreigners.", we are telling the world that this 5% of the population are "real people" and that the other 95% of the population are subhuman. If we disrespect them – they are not going to respect us.
- It makes us a dishonest nation – They admit they have been lying to us and they say that they have to lie to us for our own protection. And we're supposed to "believe" that? We have become a nation where dishonesty is required and honesty is punished.
- Chilling Effect – Knowing that the government is tracking your calls and reading your email does that change what you do, who you call, what you say? When I write to this blog I know that the NSA is reading it and that it is going into their record about me. Now they know you read this too and it's on your electronic profile. Your girl friend sends you a sexy picture and there's some NSA government worker masturbating in his cubicle over it.
- It makes us less safe – As if terrorists didn't need another reason to hate us, we just became a global threat to all of civilization. Even if we stopped a few terrorist plots we are inspiring a lot more terrorists by doing this than we are preventing.
- Opportunity for Data Theft – Why should I try to break into Bank of America to steal usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers when I can break into the NSA computers and get the data from all banks all in one place? Edward Snowden exposed exposed the spying, but if he were greedy he could have used his access to steal all this information and sell it to the Chinese government or the Russian Mafia. Can you imagine the impact it would have if everyone's credit card numbers we stolen? Do you really believe that they can keep that kind of data secure?
- Hitler's dream – Imagine if Hitler had this kind of technology back in World War II. Do you think there would be any Jews hiding in your attic that the government didn't know about? They wouldn't even need to send the SS to kick down your door. The NSA would just send an autonomous drone out to kill you.
- They already have a Gun Owner's Database – You think they don't know who has a gun with this level of spying? They know everything you buy. Bought your gun for cash but you bought bullets at WalMart with your debit card? Have you gone to a gun club, gun show, or stooting range with yur cell phone on? Do you send email sharing your views on gun rights with people who have hotmail, yahoo, or gmail accounts? Did you join the NRA online using a credit card? They know who you are and where to find you thanks to that cell phone in your pocket.
On the good side however they just gave science fiction writers a new paradigm to explore. Haven't seen this covered in Sci Fi since The Forbin Project more than 30 years ago.
I'm sure there are many more reason why Prism is a bad idea but wanted to throw out 10 just to get the ball rolling.
Dwight A. Hunt, Sr. A+, MCP
Desktop Support Specialist - Lead
Facebook and Twitter: dahuntsr
Sent from my iPad2
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