Lets look at the issue more deeply.
Consider the other end of the spectrum: Say the govt collects no data, no surveillence at airports, no wiretaps, no monitoring of any online channels.
Are we ok having our 'privacy' at the cost of security? The sad reality of our world is that there are terrorists, and they need/use things like email/chat/online forums/regular phones for communication.
So the question is where do you draw the line on what is acceptable/not.
The question needs to be looked at a deeper level. Sure, collecting data and having machines do data mining on it is not an invasion of privacy. Thats what these companies do anyway! What defines invasion is the usage. The Fourth Amendment needs a revision to account for the new reality.
Only acceptable use of data should be for detecting patterns that correspond to national/international terror threats.
Unacceptable uses of private data:
- if you are evading tax and the government finds out, this data cannot be permissible as evidence in court and/or used to prosecute.
- if you committed/planning to commit a crime, this data cannot be used as evidence or to prevent it
- the data in general cannot be used as evidence in a court of law or for taking any form of civilian action against an individual
So there is a need to look past the blind 'down with big brother' attitude and decide as a society where to draw the line!
So the question is where do you draw the line on what is acceptable/not.
The question needs to be looked at a deeper level. Sure, collecting data and having machines do data mining on it is not an invasion of privacy. Thats what these companies do anyway! What defines invasion is the usage. The Fourth Amendment needs a revision to account for the new reality.
Only acceptable use of data should be for detecting patterns that correspond to national/international terror threats.
Unacceptable uses of private data: - if you are evading tax and the government finds out, this data cannot be permissible as evidence in court and/or used to prosecute. - if you committed/planning to commit a crime, this data cannot be used as evidence or to prevent it - the data in general cannot be used as evidence in a court of law or for taking any form of civilian action against an individual
So there is a need to look past the blind 'down with big brother' attitude and decide as a society where to draw the line!