We know that ever-more sophisticated digital surveillance tools allow oppressive governments to keep an eye on what dissidents are saying, tweeting or typing. But authoritarian regimes from China to Iran will soon have a new and even more dangerous weapon: the ability to permanently store everything that everyone within their borders does online. In a new paper for the Brookings Institution, UCLA electrical engineering professor John Villasenor calculates that if the cost of digital storage continues to drop at its current rate (think about how $6 can buy you a flash drive with more memory ... Read More
Domestic Spying: A Mission in Search of a Cause
In the spring of 2006, Anne Havemann placed a call to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to make arrangements for a meeting at their headquarters in Rockville, Md. As public affairs director for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, she had been assigned to organize a press conference coinciding with the first day of the hurricane season to discuss the link between global warming and powerful tropical storms. After a few phone calls and e-mail exchanges with Maryland State Police and Department of Homeland Security staff, Havemann acquired the permits, and the press ... Read More
More like this: Culture, Culture & Society Tags: Civil Rights, Domestic Spying, Fusion Centers, Privacy
