Remember Carnivore, the super secret FBI program that was evil incarnate? Remember how all those privacy advocates and tin-foil hat guys had you all paranoid that the government was reading your mind? Turns out Carnivore was the stripped down version of commercial software the FBI had been using previously, called Omnivore. Turns out, the government IS reading your thoughts, and wants to turn it off. Turns out the self-appointed defenders of our freedom were just plain wrong. It's kind of funny how these things turn out. It's also funny to see that the press and the public, in our collective haste to get our hands on a juicy story and vent our righteous indignation, have no trouble ignoring the truth when it's inconvenient. Snarkiness aside, this actually makes a lot of sense, when you think about it. A recurring theme throughout the 9/11 commission report is that field agents were chomping at the bit to pursue leads, through very restricted legal channels suprisingly. And yet the central FBI offices kept pulling them back in from performing even the basic legal options, for fear of overstepping bounds. Considering that nobody has really been fired over the whole 9/11 snafu, it would not be at all suprising to find that central FBI offices are STILL looking to pull back the reigns on any appearance of overstepping bounds. And considering how privacy advocates got themselves all into a lather over Carnivore, they would be correct. Which is to say, that I don't think the culture at FBI headquarters has been sufficiently changed to deal with another 9/11; and privacy advocates are still living in 9/10/2001. The scarier revelation is that we and the privacy advocates still have our heads stuck in the sand. It's not the government we should be scared of, it's big business. When the FBI needs to pull up a background check, they don't look in their files. Because of the laws and their play-it-safe culture, there's nothing but newspaper clippings in their files. When they need the real information, they call up Mastercard or Visa or American Express or Radio Shack or WalMart. Because nobody is out there regulating them, nobody is organizing a street demonstration over Circuit City asking me my zip code and home phone # in the name of convenience. The government wants your picture for your drivers license, we go apeshit. Why, I don't know, it's government identification, for crying out loud. Dell wants to know your SSN, mother's maiden name, and favorite brand of shampoo, and it's just another lame joke for late night fodder. I mean, why does Radio Shack need my zipcode? Can't they figure out that information from the point of sale? Oddly enough, PVPonline had a nice comic that touches upon this. Well, I'm done venting for now. Read the article for more enlighting information. [via boingboing]
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