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by sneak
4735 days ago
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Ubiquitous surveillance can be used to control and coerce anyone, regardless of absence of criminal wrongdoing (though there are people who claim the average american commits three felonies a day now, because the USC is so overbroad). It's not about "nothing to hide": when anyone can be blackmailed, including judges and lawmakers and law enforcement, the entire system of interlocking checks and balances breaks down. http://pastebin.com/7SRmFpFH The FBI threatened MLK Jr with exposing his extramarital affair (they'd discovered via surveillance) if he didn't give up his civil rights work. You may not have anything to hide, but many do, for entirely legal reasons, and it is shameful of you to deny them their right to privacy. If you truly have absolutely nothing to hide, it is quite unlikely you are doing very significant work to meaningfully improve the world. |
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As I wrote in another comment, it's not just surveillance for state purposes, it's also surveillance for the corporate interests of the state (pharmaceuticals, agribusiness/GMOs, oil lobby, etc.). What if the big 3 auto makers were so powerful that they tried to crush Tesla by subtly targeting its customers and employees with fake bad news (oh wait, maybe they're already doing it). I'm convinced that some of the spying on the EU was over agricultural policies such as their strong anti-GMO stance--US companies would love to have advance knowledge to maneuver around them. I'm not sure it's happening yet, then again, how would we know?
[1] http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/king-like-all-frauds-yo...