Googly, Googly… revisited… Facebooky… Facebooky…

How is anyone surprised by the “Big Reveal”, in every entendre imaginable, from Facebook that ALL OF YOUR INFORMATION WAS USED IN A WAY THAT YOU DON’T LIKE… AND THEY TOOK YOUR FRIENDS INFO TOO… BECAUSE YOU LET THEM.

How is the news?

We’ve been talking about this for over 5 YEARS!  It’s now 032118…

And, I’m always fashionably late to the party!

Where have you been?

(Update 091113: Yesterday, Google lost a similar decision to the one below.  It was on Appeal before the Ninth Circuit.  The Folks at EPIC are happy… but doesn’t the this story make more sense and a seem little less conspiratorial now that we know the NSA has been collecting all of our data and doing so with the aid of our allies?  Originally Posted 072712)

“In April, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission fined Google, saying the company “deliberately impeded and delayed” its investigation into Street View.

It’s unclear what, if any, penalties would be imposed on Google by Britain’s ICO or regulators in any of the 10 other jurisdictions in which the company had wrongly retained Street View data.

“We need to take a look at the data… There’s all sorts of questions we need to ask,” an ICO spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity because office rules prohibit him from being named in print.”

The above quote and where I decided to begin and end it may seem a little confusing, but there is a point…

Today we find out that Google has not destroyed/deleted all of the street view info it was caught collecting in Britain. Keep in mind, when I say “street view info” that includes wi-fi networks and names, e-mail addresses and various and sundry other items of information having nothing to do with a street, or the view from it.

Here’s the fun part however… Britain’s regulators, the IOC, are very “upset”. There has been aplenty “tough” language directed at Google for this blatant breach. Yes… they are terribly, terribly upset don’t you know.

While Google has apologized, it is clearly not enough for the IOC.  In all fairness it’s not enough for me either but here’s the punch line; the IOC is demanding to see the information for “forensic analysis”.  Seriously… You Brit’s are Brilliant!  “Yes, yes, I will need to see all the pornography you have so I can determine if it is actually pornography.  I will also need plenty of time to review it… alone…”

So why did I take the above quote from where I did?

Without question Google was harvesting the same information here in the U.S. that it was in Britain.  No doubt about it.  And the U.S. is watching closely what is going on across the pond… very closely.  But why?

If the IOC is successful in gaining access to the Google information for “forensic analysis” because Google has been very, very bad… then U.S. regulators will not be far behind the Google spanking bandwagon.  What red-blooded, privacy cherishing, citizen wouldn’t want Google to be punished for collecting a bunch of info it shouldn’t have?

Well… this one.  If punishing Google requires the government seeing all of the intel, I would prefer Google to get away with it and we can deal with them in the market place.   Think about this for a second, who would you rather have possessing your secrets, a private company answerable to the legal system or a government answerable to no-one?

The monster under my bed has always scared me the most by whispering “don’t worry…  I’m from the government and I’m here to help…”.  Now he’s muttering “googly… googly..” and my parents still don’t believe me.

Your freedom is directly correlated to your ability to live your life anonymously.  If you care.

Apparently, like the rest of the planet, I may just elect to drink myself to sleep.  Unlike the rest of the planet I will only do it late at night… straight from the bottle… in front of a full length mirror… crying…

NSA disguised itself as Google to spy, say reports  (link added 091213)

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Well as long as you Admit it…

It’s OK.

NSA looks at FAR, FAR more people’s data than previously disclosed.

So…

No Problem then.

We’ll just forget about all this and start going to movies again.

(Could the investigation of this Domestic Spying be why so many Governmental Department heads are suddenly “retiring”?)

 

 

Google Can’t Shoot You

… and claim the Patriot Act was on Their side.

So stop trying to justify the NSA’s collection of Citizen’s Personal Data because Google, and others, do it.

Did the Democrats buy information from Google for President Obama’s Election and re-election Campaigns?  Yes, they did.  But it’s not their fault the Republicans were too stupid to make the same investment.  Data Mining is something that should aggravate you when conducted by private companies… like Google, Bing, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, etc…

But it should incense you to the point of demanding jail time for those responsible when Data Mining is conducted by the Federal Government using, unconstitutionally obtained, innocent civilian personal information.  Not only that, the fact that the government is storing every communication prior to a crime being committed should make you want to vomit.

Private companies can do whatever they want… so long as it’s legal… and they are willing to face the public. In other words, the fine folks at Google can be put in jail, or watch their share prices drop at a minimum.

We enjoy NO SUCH RECOURSE when dealing with the government. You cannot sue the Government.  The Government Employees never go to jail.  You can’t put the Government out of business.  The best we ever get is a hearing or two with the promise that “steps have been taken to make sure (whatever you’re complaining about) will not happen again”.  Frankly, We consider ourselves lucky to get an “I’m Sorry.”.

There is a VAST difference between PRIVATE and GOVERNMENT.

We were not founded as a Nation that was supposed to “Trust the Government”.  In fact, our founding documents were specifically designed to limit Government power exactly because Government was not to be trusted… ever.  Never.

Another Argument is; “We’ve been doing this for a long time… almost a decade.  And we haven’t seen a problem…” -Charles Krauthammer.

SO WHAT!?  The U.S. Government has been wasting our money for far longer than they have been Spying on the Entire Nation… so it’s OK?!  Unbelievable.

The last, and latest, argument to try to make you feel okay is; “Judges have signed off on these seizures of data.”  The fact the Eric Holder had to go “judge shopping” until he could find one to sign off on whatever he wanted, particularly the seizing of data from 100 AP reporters, should illustrate what a farce the FISA courts are.  It is not beyond a very simple imagination to think those courts could be stacked with exactly those types of judges.  It is worth noting that reportedly, of the 34,000 requests currently sent to FISA courts only 11 (eleven) have been refused.  Eleven… eleven… holy crap.

I find the reaction, and offered defenses, of what is going on to be astounding, and frightening all at the same time.  As should you.

Grab a pen, and start keeping track of those Politicians, Advisors, Talking Heads and Government Employees who defend such behavior.

You’ll need that list come election time.  You’ll also need a bottle of Bourbon… no glass, it’ll just get in the way.