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0 pointspyoung12y ago0 comments

No, it means that the NSA can, and has, collected data on just about anyone. What they do with it, my guess is not much unless there is an actual national security threat, is still up for question.

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4 comments · 3 top-level

jlgreco12y ago· 1 in thread

When in doubt, assume the worse so that you might only be pleasantly surprised. Assume there is a J. Edgar Hoover 2.0.

teddyh12y ago

That would not be assuming the worst; A J. Edgar Hoover 2.0 would still be a person.

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

— C.S. Lewis

judk12y ago

What you think is a security threat and what they think is a security threat are not the same thing. That is the essence of the problem.

differentView12y ago

Am I being too cynical to think that if the person/group with this intelligence wants to move the United States in a certain direction, they can easily threaten, blackmail, or leak embarrassing/illegal information about those politicians/high-ranking military officers/CEOs of large corporations standing in their way.

I am not saying every powerful person can be blackmailed, threatened, or have career-ruining secrets, but even if you have the power to control the actions of 1% of those people, that's a pretty significant power.

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