Via CNet News, confirmation that those of us who share photos and videos online may be the next target of government scrutiny:
The Bush administration has accelerated its Internet surveillance push by proposing that Web sites must keep records of who uploads photographs or videos in case police determine the content is illegal and choose to investigate, CNET News.com has learned.
That proposal surfaced Wednesday in a private meeting during which U.S. Department of Justice officials, including Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand, tried to convince industry representatives such as AOL and Comcast that data retention would be valuable in investigating terrorism, child pornography and other crimes. The discussions were described to News.com by several people who attended the meeting.
It makes me angry that a combination of ignorance and the constant whipping of the culture of fear in people, combined with our current administration’s bully tactics and the telcos’ pandering ways mesh together to write the Bush Administration a free ticket to spy on all of us. It should make you angry too, because it’s a waste of taxpayer money.
Keep in mind, they believe this should be a one-way street. They should know everything WE do on the Internet, yet protest when we use our cameras to hold them accountable. No, not just protest, but persecute.
We live in a country governed by a paranoid madman. When George Bush is compared with Richard Nixon, I believe you will see many, many similarities to their personality type, including lots of backchannel payoffs, out-of-control paranoia and megalomania, and an utter disregard for the rule of law.
If you think I’m exaggerating, consider this: The proposals put out by the Justice Department were not in writing and were made in a private meeting with ISP representatives.
I’m all for tracking terrorists and child pornographers, but not with a carte blanche permit, particularly when we have so many non-expert “experts” in law enforcement trying to use this stuff.
Until the DOJ comes out in public, specifies exactly what information they want ISPs to retain, for how long, and under what circumstances it must be disclosed, we should be holding our representatives accountable and expecting public discourse and discussion of how much of our privacy the government and our providers should be keeping and disclosing.
Cross-posted to my political blog
Technorati Tags: DOJ, Internet privacy, photo sharing, video sharing, data tracking
