[Newsbot]

Title: Berlin Wall: East Germans lived in fear under Stasi surveillance
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: DrCaleb
Date: 2014-11-10 08:22:26

[Public_Domain]

Ah yes, back when informants had to be people, instead of the thing I'm typing on right now... How quaint.

[andyt]

Was listening to the paranoid show on radio the other night, and some CIA guy was saying google is basically an extension of NSA. NSA doesn't have to monitor you themselves, they just use Facebook and google, go in the back door and get what they want. They won't bother with shlubs like us, unless we pop up on the radar. Say if we get elected to office, according to him they'll discretely let you know that that have every bit of electronic data you ever sent or received. (In the US anyway). Wonder if that's what happened to Barry, why he turned into such a wimp once elected?

[Public_Domain]

Andy, where were you when Snowden came out?

Google (Android, Chrome, Youtube, AdWords, Gmail), Microsoft (Windows, IE, Hotmail, Skype), Apple (iPhone, Safari, Mac), Yahoo, Facebook (Instagram, Snapchat), and all their extensions. They also apparently have entire sections of the major internet fiber optic bundles simply tapped. ALl information that goes through the United States is at best considered compromised, no matter how it ended up being routed through the States (inevitable, basically). But they don't do anything. Not even to "Terrorists"... They just log it all and wait. From what we know they have access to, they sure as hell would be able to chase down at least a few pedophiles, but apparently not.

I think all the leaders turn into wimps once they realize they are basically figureheads with a microphone.

Also, the Americans don't have to worry about the NSA... We spy on Americans for them. The NSA spies on everyone but Americans. The Five Eyes pact is weird and reminds me of corporate tax avoidance schemes. In order to skirt the fact that we have it on paper that our government shouldn't have unmitigated access to our information, we spy on our friends and then give them the resulting information because of spy treaties that allow information to be shared between the five countries. So we deal with the NSA, they deal with CSIS.

[andyt]

I don't pay that much attention because I don't plan to run for office. I think it's way too late to worry about this, and we have the population pushing for more with every Muslim outrage du jour. One day people may find that the govt that was "protecting" them is now after them, but so it goes.

[Public_Domain]

I wouldn't say "worry" but I do think people should at least know what the deal is, even if the government isn't planning on kicking their doors down, PROFUNC-style. Kinda like you should know that the pop coolers, with their vast variety of flavours, are dictated by two companies, as goes with chips, candy, food, being vastly controlled by 2-4 companies. People should know, and they should care, but relative peacefulness and benevolence means people don't really feel a need for alarm, I guess.

[herbie]

It isn't the fact that it was the evil empire's that spied on their own citizens.
It was about the evil empires being COMMIES.
Mrs. Znargh peered out her curtains all day long, everyone knew she was the informant. She got a little nicer apartment and an extra 15 zlotys per month.
Now FREE ENTERPRISE has found a way so that NO ONE GETS A JOB, no one can put a face to the informant and some corporation makes all that money spying for the gov't.
That's acceptable now.

[Unsound]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Ah yes, back when informants had to be people, instead of the thing I'm typing on right now... How quaint.

Y'see, capitalists are just better than the communists at everything.

[DanSC]

Unsound Unsound:

Y'see, capitalists are just better than the communists at everything.

Comparing the Trabbie to the BMWs of the time, you're not wrong.

[herbie]

Glad you're picked BMWs to compare against the Trabants and not K cars....

[martin14]

herbie herbie:

Glad you're picked BMWs to compare against the Trabants and not K cars....

Yup.

Trabants were much better.

[DrCaleb]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

ALl information that goes through the United States is at best considered compromised, no matter how it ended up being routed through the States (inevitable, basically). But they don't do anything. Not even to "Terrorists"... They just log it all and wait. From what we know they have access to, they sure as hell would be able to chase down at least a few pedophiles, but apparently not.

I think all the leaders turn into wimps once they reazlie they are basically figureheads with a microphone.

Overseas cable was laid with the intent of having it all come ashore at certain points. People started to get wary when the cable came in to specific rooms that no one had access to, and could only tap into these cables when they left those rooms. It was the first rumors of the project called 'Echelon' and as it turned out the 'foilers' were wrong. But only to the extent of the program. Turns out, it was much worse than anyone thought.



Notice that traffic that goes from Asia to Europe will tend to go through North America first?

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Also, the Americans don't have to worry about the NSA... We spy on Americans for them. The NSA spies on everyone but Americans. The Five Eyes pact is weird and reminds me of corporate tax avoidance schemes. In order to skirt the fact that we have it on paper that our government shouldn't have unmitigated access to our information, we spy on our friends and then give them the resulting information because of spy treaties that allow information to be shared between the five countries. So we deal with the NSA, they deal with CSIS.

Actually, that would be the SEC, formerly known as CSEC. CSIS would tend to deal with the FBI and CIA, SEC would be analogous to the NSA.

I recall the furour over the Government plan to create the 'Supersdatabase' of all government information about us. So instead, they just let the NSA or GCHQ do it for them. Problem solved.