This is a bit of a think it out blog.
When I first heard about the NSA collecting all this information, I was a bit surprised, but not that surprised. I've always considered the internet about as private as a postcard... with the exception of websites with "secure lock" pictures with them - pages like entering my credit card and logging onto my bank. Those I considered more like a fireproof lock box you store in your house.
My first thoughts were, well, I'm a good citizen and a good person, plus, really, a nobody, so I can just keep my head down and I'll never be targeted. And the second thing is, if anything comes up, there will be plenty of proof that I'm a good person. And secondly, there is so much information in that database, they'll never run across me.
But something about that bothered me. Why do I need to keep my head down? Would I ever consider running for office under this idea? No, I wouldn't. Running for office isn't keeping my head down. Secondly, if I feel a need to "keep my head down," what happened to my freedom? I'm suddenly worried about it. Especially if "keeping my head down" means not being a "Tea Party Member looking for tax exempt status." That is a huge violation of freedom. There are any number of combinations that could make me a target. And as my husband put it, "Everything Can and WILL be used against you."
I watched/listened to TWiT tv Security Now episodes 408 and 409. They brought up some interesting points. Websites such as facebook, google etc, have 'license agreements.' For facebook it says, you 'must be at least 13 years old.' To violate that would be a federal offense. Very few people read these agreements. Likely millions of people have violated something in it, having no idea. Now the NSA probably wouldn't spend time on that alone, but if a person was arrested later in life, the NSA could go back and look at everything you've ever done and add charges or destroy your character and reputation... or find enough circumstantial proof to convict you.
The next thing I thought about was because I recently read something about people that do illegal downloading. Someone was ranting about if Hollywood just sold the media in the format they wanted it, or if they could find what they wanted through any legal channel, they would. But illegal downloading was the avenue to get what they were looking for when it wasn't available otherwise. Now, if the NSA is collecting all the noise and blips on the internet, and suddenly decided to sell some services, or convict people of 'more minor' crimes, they have the ability to put hundreds of people in jail. I imagine most of them would be children, college students and young parents. Even many good christians (although they'd have to make a bunch more jails since they're all pretty full right now.)
Or perhaps they could sentence everyone to monetary penalties... so that the government can continue to fund the growth of this spying apparatus.
What bugs me the most is that our tax dollars are being used against us. We're no longer paying for security, we're paying for, potentially, our own death penalty. The idea that this information collection will help us catch criminals is all fine and dandy, as long as we can trust that the people in charge won't become criminals. Martha Stewart couldn't seem to resist. Who can you trust?
At the end of TWiT Security Now, after having discussed a number of options to try to protect your communications, they ended up saying, there's really nothing out there that you can be 100% sure will protect you. If you use the internet at all, have a cell phone, or login to anything, the NSA can potentially find you.
And what about Edward Snowden? The government wants to charge him with treason. If they can't get a country to extradite him, who's to say they won't send a US Sniper out for him? Who's to say that a corrupt government won't send someone out to ship out any of us? Perhaps the 'missing persons' list will begin to rise. Maybe it already has... or maybe I'm starting a conspiracy.
The thing is, with this new information, most conspiracy theories are looking rather possible. Shutting down the internet; placing incriminating data in a citizen's file- framing them; censoring the internet; etc.
What I really think is entertaining, is why the US government thought that China or any country that's been spied on would be interested in quickly shipping back Edward Snowden? If the US wants him back so much, maybe they'd keep him as a bargaining chip, so that they could find out about this spy program. Or, they'd just let him go, because they like watching the US government flail around like a fish trying to patch up their lies. Essentially, this exposure cost the US government the trust of every nation around the world.
And the US has also lost the trust they built with many of its citizens. When the Nightly News Report talks about how the US government keeps saying that 'not returning Edward Snowden will damage relations between the US and [that country],' what they're actually saying... or what I'm hearing, is that "we are in denial that we have lied to the international community, and we will make that country our problem if they do not cooperate."
And while the international world is busy discussing what the US spying apparatus means to them, the citizens of Syria are experiencing genocide. I heard a few days ago that a third of their country has been destroyed - and pictures of towns with buildings that have been blown to pieces were placed on the screen. And the UN is trying to decide if they should aid the rebels before they are extinct... which is speculated to be weeks or even days away. And to realize this has been going on for... 3 years, I think they said.
It's all about priorities. And categories. And criminal punishments are all about how offended the people in charge are.
