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LOL, yeah bcs everyone with a brain knows , and has stopped using GOOGLE , fakebook and others.
Boycotts can work, I got 6 emails from google saying please come back, lol so maybe they should start paying US for the information they are data mining and selling then. Idiots.
How can they send you mails when you stopped using Google, i.e. Gmail as well I suppose?
Did you give them an alternative email address of yours? That would not be a good idea...
The NSA has been 'tapping' information since 2003 when Room 641 at AT&T was discovered.
If the NSA can tap the backbone of the internet then they can tap anything.
Only electronic and electric stuff. If you write on paper, things get very inefficient for them. One should simply not talk or write about anything important anymore, unless from face to face or via letters.
Only electronic and electric stuff. If you write on paper, things get very inefficient for them. One should simply not talk or write about anything important anymore, unless from face to face or via letters.
That's why Snowden did what he did and how he did it.
It was voluntary cooperation on their part that started this mess, now they don't like it - probably because somewhere, they see the economic ramifications for themselves.
Collectively they had the power to stand up to the government - but chose not to do so. They are willing participants.
It was voluntary? How do you know it was voluntary?
If you're running a business that depends on licensing from government (local, state, or federal), that can cost you a significant sum (either in lost production, or possible lawyers fees) for auditing for taxes, or the government can send in various departments to check compliance for various possible transgressions of various laws and statutes. Are you really going to stand up to that government at the expense of the company and your source of income?
Moreover, in many cases any warrants issued (and we kind of know how hard these are to get) have gag orders attached so that the companies and their employees face prosecution if they disclose they were even served a warrant for someone to access their records.
Voluntarily submitting to something under coercion is not volunteering.
As for whether those companies should collect that data, well in most cases you volunteer it (you did read the user agreement didn't you...?). Ironically you're complaining about them collecting your data by volunteering it to City-Data (you've already supplied your email address, IP address, and many other pieces of information in your profile, not to mention your opinions). Lets take Google, if they weren't making money doing what they were doing, would you pay a subscription to them for web searches? Bearing in mind that all search engines would likely develop the same model. If not then how useful would the internet be? That's not to say they should collect it, or not, but you did agree to their terms, and there are not the constitutional restrictions on companies that there are on the Government.
Now sure them doing that gives the government a one stop or two stop shop to get a lot of information about the individual, but that's supposed to be in violation of the Constitution, blaming the company is shooting the messenger.
No matter which way you slice it, the fault is on us for giving these companies that information, and the government, for leveraging the data those companies have. Now you're complaining that those companies are complaining about government intrusion on your behalf. And people ask what's wrong with this country...
The CEO of yahoo (Melissa Myers) told a journalist she HAD to turn over ALL info (all emails) on yahoo acct owners to the NSA. If not she said quote " it would be considered treason".
So, some companies apparently are feigning innocence now, or we have a CEO who was clueless about the NSA (highly dubious).
The CEO of yahoo (Melissa Myers) told a journalist she HAD to turn over ALL info (all emails) on yahoo acct owners to the NSA. If not she said quote " it would be considered treason".
So, some companies apparently are feigning innocence now, or we have a CEO who was clueless about the NSA (highly dubious).
Marissa Mayer was on stage on Wednesday at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference when Michael Arrington asked her about NSA snooping.
He wanted to know what would happen if Yahoo just didn't cooperate. He wanted to know what would happen if she were to simply talk about what was happening, even though the government had forbidden it.
"Releasing classified information is treason. It generally lands you incarcerated," she said, clearly uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation.
She also explained that when the government comes calling wanting information on Yahoo users, the company scrutinizes each request and "we push back a lot on requests." But "we can't talk about those things because they're classified," she said.
She was referring to the gag order on the warrant issued by the NSA, it's not treason per se, but it's a violation of US National Security to release classified information, and treason is shorter and snappier and conveys the point without getting lost in the weeds.
It was voluntary? How do you know it was voluntary?
If you're running a business that depends on licensing from government (local, state, or federal), that can cost you a significant sum (either in lost production, or possible lawyers fees) for auditing for taxes, or the government can send in various departments to check compliance for various possible transgressions of various laws and statutes. Are you really going to stand up to that government at the expense of the company and your source of income?
Moreover, in many cases any warrants issued (and we kind of know how hard these are to get) have gag orders attached so that the companies and their employees face prosecution if they disclose they were even served a warrant for someone to access their records.
Voluntarily submitting to something under coercion is not volunteering.
As for whether those companies should collect that data, well in most cases you volunteer it (you did read the user agreement didn't you...?). Ironically you're complaining about them collecting your data by volunteering it to City-Data (you've already supplied your email address, IP address, and many other pieces of information in your profile, not to mention your opinions). Lets take Google, if they weren't making money doing what they were doing, would you pay a subscription to them for web searches? Bearing in mind that all search engines would likely develop the same model. If not then how useful would the internet be? That's not to say they should collect it, or not, but you did agree to their terms, and there are not the constitutional restrictions on companies that there are on the Government.
Now sure them doing that gives the government a one stop or two stop shop to get a lot of information about the individual, but that's supposed to be in violation of the Constitution, blaming the company is shooting the messenger.
No matter which way you slice it, the fault is on us for giving these companies that information, and the government, for leveraging the data those companies have. Now you're complaining that those companies are complaining about government intrusion on your behalf. And people ask what's wrong with this country...
Have you read any of my Lavabit threads? The owner is being sued by government for shutting down his company instead of giving over information. He chose not to appease the government.
I'm just stating that they gave up the info instead of standing up to the threats collectively - and now they have a conscience and want to say something. There is always a choice. It's not an easy choice, but it's a choice.
People agree to give Google, etc. info. - also a choice.
If you agree to people accessing your info - kinda makes it hard to complain down the road. That's all I'm saying.
I guess one has to differentiate between giving information to companies and secret services. As much as most people dislike them, with Google etc. what most people worry about is personalized ads and things like that. Now, secret services are a totally different story. People don't trust them and the way they are intertwined with the military, police, and god knows which other agencies. Google as such has no power, all they have is knowledge, but when that knowledge is combined with clandestine powers, people rightly get worried.
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