FC: Weekly column: How will surveillance tech evolve in 10 years?

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2010-1069-979276.html

   George Orwell, here we come
   By Declan McCullagh
   January 6, 2003, 10:58 AM PT

   The biggest problem with criticism of Adm. John Poindexter's massive
   spy proposal is not in the argument over the system being so darn creepy.

   Of course it's creepy. This new federal agency deliberately chose the
   motto "knowledge is power," crafted a logo certain to inspire
   conspiracy theories, and is itching to assemble a detailed
   computerized dossier on every American. And that a figure such as
   Poindexter--disgraced in the Iran-Contra scandal and with a database
   addiction dating back to at least 1987--is running the show is a
   detail worthy of a Jonathan Swift satire.

   No, the biggest problem with the criticism of the Total Information
   Awareness system is that it's too shortsighted. It's focused on what
   the Poindexters of the world can do with current database and
   information-mining technology. That includes weaving together strands
   of data from various sources--such as travel, credit card, bank,
   electronic toll and driver's license databases--with the stated
   purpose of identifying terrorists before they strike.

   But what could Poindexter and the Bush administration devise in five
   or 10 years, if they had the money, the power and the will?

   That's the real question, and therein lies the true threat. Even if
   all of our current elected representatives, appointed officials and
   unappointed bureaucrats are entirely trustworthy--and that's a pretty
   big assumption--what could a corrupt FBI, Secret Service or Homeland
   Security police force do with advanced technology by the end of the
   decade? What if there was another terrorist attack that prompted
   Congress to delete whatever remaining privacy laws shield Americans
   from surveillance?

   [... remainder snipped and available at 
http://news.com.com/2010-1069-979276.html ...]




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