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The title of this blog is the problem with the government’s widespread snooping on citizens. The government says it hasn’t implemented the Total Information Awareness Program… but there is plenty of evidence that it has. And that means that everything on the Internet, and all phone calls, are being recorded and archived by the government for data mining. That means anything said during a voice call or done on the Internet could come back to haunt you at any time in the future. And let’s be serious – we’re not just talking crime here. You have to know it will be used for political purposes (e.g. to control citizens).
I want to keep this post focused. So we’ll keep it simple:
Can we trust the U.S. government to keep all the information it amasses about us secret?
According to the government, we can’t.
This sad, but hardly astonishing fact was underscored yesterday in the publication of a memo from Donald Rumsfeld in 2005 while he was Secretary of Defense under President Bush:
Donald Rumsfeld Image via Wikipedia
FROM: Donald Rumsfeld
SUBJECT: U.S. Government Incapable of Keeping a Secret
The United States Government is incapable of keeping a secret.
If one accepts that, and I do, that means that the U.S. Government will have to craft
policies that reflect that reality.
DHR.ss
110205-11
The actual memo is here.
… that’s short, sweet, and to the point. But if we accept Rumsfeld’s view, then we are in grave danger, and we must consider that any shred of privacy we may have once had, say, a decade ago… is now long gone.
Please see:
U.S. is “Incapable of Keeping a Secret,” Rumsfeld Concluded in 2005
July 15th, 2011 by Steven Aftergood
The Devil in your Cookies
July 15th, 2011 by Rex Latchford