BBC News: US wants Twitter details of Wikileaks activists
In 2007 I wrote a blog piece about the sinister data-mining types who ploughed millions of dollars into Facebook because they saw the obvious potential of having such a vast and up-to-date depository of information about social networks. Governments ain't stoopid, and now we can see precisely how they plan to use things like Facebook and Twitter to spy on their own citizens. All they have to do is subpoena the social network owners, who are hardly likely to refuse.
The mad thing is that governments don't even have to make any effort to gather the data. Gone are the days of the Stasi, who were almost admirable in their dedication to covert surveillance. Now the public voluntarily supplies tidily organised and digitally compiled information about their social lives.
The good old days
This is really not good. The Wikileaks activists are not terrorists. I doubt that terrorists tweet their terrorist plans. They are whistleblowers who have done nothing but expose factual documents that threaten the public image of the US military-industrial complex's international adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This latest development shows that by invoking 'national security' world governments will be able to get any information about anyone that happens to be stored by social networking sites. The temptation is simply too great for them to resist. And if this is happening now, who know what they might be doing ten years from now?
This is really not good. The Wikileaks activists are not terrorists. I doubt that terrorists tweet their terrorist plans. They are whistleblowers who have done nothing but expose factual documents that threaten the public image of the US military-industrial complex's international adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This latest development shows that by invoking 'national security' world governments will be able to get any information about anyone that happens to be stored by social networking sites. The temptation is simply too great for them to resist. And if this is happening now, who know what they might be doing ten years from now?
