He's watching, he's listening.

Originally posted by e4chris
I think it really is about time they had a system like this, it worries me more them not having one.

Agreed. But where's the line?

Is it acceptable to cross the line?

We all want safety and security but where's the line?


Are you happy in the knowledge that your Government knows
everything about you? You'll probably say you have nothing to
hide and that's great, but there must be a boundary somewhere.

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
Agreed. But where's the line?

Is it acceptable to cross the line?

We all want safety and security but where's the line?


Are you happy in the knowledge that your Government knows
everything about you? You'll probably say you have nothing to
hide and that's great, but there must be a boundary somewhere.

for me, i'd like the spies to see everything, but the police in general to treat data just like searching a house - needing a warrant - except for very serious crime or crime that only exists on computers / net.

Originally posted by e4chris
for me, i'd like the spies to see everything, but the police in general to treat data just like searching a house - needing a warrant - except for very serious crime or crime that only exists on computers / net.

We had a case here where this guy in Limerick decided to turn
police informer. He was signed up by the police as an informant
but the paperwork never went upstairs. He was therefore not a
registered informer. At a trial he was in the dock along with other
members of the gang he was part of and when the book of evidence
was presented he was listed in the book of evidence as an informer.

The other members of the gang saw this along with their lawyers and
so the informer, ( Mr. A ) his life was put in danger by the police and
the prosecution legal team.

The whole sorry story came out and the police realized that they had
blundered and so to save themselves embarrassment they entered a
nolle prosequi. This meant the gang walked.

Mr. A had to flee the country and is now living abroad.
If he ever goes back to Limerick he will be killed.

He sued the state and secured a six figure sum in settlement.


This is just a small taste of what can happen when intelligence goes wrong.


There are much larger problems such as monitoring terrorists.

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
Is it evil ways or altruism,
that launched the operation called prism?
This is a task on an enormous scale,
involving phone calls, facebook and US Mail.

Privacy is dead and gone.
You think you're alone but there's never just one.
The state they have their eyes on you,
so better behave and pay your taxes too.

To be targeted by the IRS or t ...[text shortened]... I'd love to tell you more but I have to go,
The NSA are here to take me to Guantanamo.

Do you have something to hide citizen?

Originally posted by johnnylongwoody
We had a case here where this guy in Limerick decided to turn
police informer. He was signed up by the police as an informant
but the paperwork never went upstairs. He was therefore not a
registered informer. At a trial he was in the dock along with other
members of the gang he was part of and when the book of evidence
was presented he was ...[text shortened]... when intelligence goes wrong.


There are much larger problems such as monitoring terrorists.

Prism is Orwellian its the definition of it. but I don't see it as a dangerous slip. I saw itunes, facebook, google, bing as a dangerous slip, the way folk have there whole lives on line now.

If our society got Orwellian that happened c5+years ago and now the police and spies need to catch up.

For me I used to work in a bank - banks had a while ago long running problems with tamil tigers - they liked fraud - if the banks were told they must share all there data with prism and prism would catch these bad guys I think they would breath a sigh of relief and send the data that day.

Originally posted by e4chris
Prism is Orwellian its the definition of it. but I don't see it as a dangerous slip. I saw itunes, facebook, google, bing as a dangerous slip, the way folk have there whole lives on line now.

If our society got Orwellian that happened c5+years ago and now the police and spies need to catch up.

For me I used to work in a bank - banks had a while ago lo ...[text shortened]... uld catch these bad guys I think they would breath a sigh of relief and send the data that day.

I wonder if this will produce a mass exodus from social media, of if it will produce a mass effort of disinformation among the citizens of the country.

Originally posted by Metal Brain
If I were the leader of a government I would not be aggressively trying to colonize the world and would not have foreign terrorists pissed at me. If I had enough prosperity in my country and I was not selling my people out to profit from slave wages in foreign countries like China my people would be happy and unlikely to engage in domestic terrorism.
...[text shortened]... did all that. I would have no need to spy on people in my own country, just on other countries.

You are describing Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden and Norway. It seems people are quite happy there. However, while no one is submerged in poverty, no one gets rich and therefore powerful beyond belief. Some social scientists (in teh U.S.) posit that it is this lure of fantastic wealth that drives the research and innovation engine in the US that has propelled the global economy. If the US moved towards the Scandinavian model, the entire global economy would suffer. I think this idea is rubbish. I vote for Sweden. I'm trying to convince friends in Sweden to adopt me😛

Originally posted by Metal Brain
No, I would be spying on foreign countries and secure the border. Only a foreign invasion would be a true threat. My people would love me because I wouldn't exploit them.
Only border crossings would be subject to harsh scrutiny. I would want to know who is coming into my country and why.

Welcome to 2013. A country can be invaded and deeply damagd by sabotaging computer networks or launching unmanned drones across a border to either spy or attack. Cutting off oil supplies could quickly destroy a nation economically. Isolationism is no longer a choice except for Luxumberg and Switzerland.

Originally posted by whodey
I wonder if this will produce a mass exodus from social media, of if it will produce a mass effort of disinformation among the citizens of the country.

I doubt it? we like computers too much...