By far the most egregious scandal to come out of Washington in the last few months is the revelation that the US government has taken a drag net approach to internet surveillance. Given the codename 'Prism' the program takes all the information stored on certain internet giants for storage by the US government. The following companies hand all their data to the US government. (brackets indicates when they joined the program):
Microsoft (2007)
Yahoo! (2008)
Google (2009)
Facebook (2009)
PalTalk (2009)
YouTube (2010)
Skype (2011)
AOL (2011)
Apple (2012)
It's terrifying to think that the US government effectively knows all of our data that's owned by any of these companies. Every photo you have ever uploaded on Facebook, every email you have ever sent through gmail, every video you have watched on YouTube and all the audio and video that you have sent through Skype! It gets worse. Seriously! Remember that email you drafted but never sent and that sentence you typed on Skype but never sent? They have that too. This is an affront to liberty and goes completely against the US constitution. Particularly the fourth amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
How is taking all the data on these websites possibly fit with the constitution? It doesn't, mass data collection in this form, is blatantly unconstitutional.
The funny thing is, all the companies are denying any involvement in the program, claiming that the information was seized without their knowledge. This is a complete pack of lies, the US government has already confirmed the program. Also, why would Twitter not be one the list? Twitter is a massive website with millions of users and a record for protecting its user's privacy. Also why did it take the government until 2012 to get all of Apple's data?
The political class in Washington has naturally tried to quell the scandal. After all, if you're not doing anything wrong, then why fear Prism? This is a fool's argument, I don't want the US government poking into every detail of my life. There's other things we do online that are just embarrassing, such as watching porn of other such legal activities. Ever heard of J. Edgar Hoover? He was head of the FBI from its foundation in 1935 to his death in 1972. During that time he amassed huge amounts of information, enough to make even Presidents quake. Through the medium of blackmail he kept opponents in line. If that can happen then, it could happen now.
The US government most stop this unconstitutional program if it wishes to retain any credibility.
Microsoft (2007)
Yahoo! (2008)
Google (2009)
Facebook (2009)
PalTalk (2009)
YouTube (2010)
Skype (2011)
AOL (2011)
Apple (2012)
It's terrifying to think that the US government effectively knows all of our data that's owned by any of these companies. Every photo you have ever uploaded on Facebook, every email you have ever sent through gmail, every video you have watched on YouTube and all the audio and video that you have sent through Skype! It gets worse. Seriously! Remember that email you drafted but never sent and that sentence you typed on Skype but never sent? They have that too. This is an affront to liberty and goes completely against the US constitution. Particularly the fourth amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
How is taking all the data on these websites possibly fit with the constitution? It doesn't, mass data collection in this form, is blatantly unconstitutional.
The funny thing is, all the companies are denying any involvement in the program, claiming that the information was seized without their knowledge. This is a complete pack of lies, the US government has already confirmed the program. Also, why would Twitter not be one the list? Twitter is a massive website with millions of users and a record for protecting its user's privacy. Also why did it take the government until 2012 to get all of Apple's data?
The political class in Washington has naturally tried to quell the scandal. After all, if you're not doing anything wrong, then why fear Prism? This is a fool's argument, I don't want the US government poking into every detail of my life. There's other things we do online that are just embarrassing, such as watching porn of other such legal activities. Ever heard of J. Edgar Hoover? He was head of the FBI from its foundation in 1935 to his death in 1972. During that time he amassed huge amounts of information, enough to make even Presidents quake. Through the medium of blackmail he kept opponents in line. If that can happen then, it could happen now.
The US government most stop this unconstitutional program if it wishes to retain any credibility.
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