Dick Cheney defended the NSA collection of phone records on Fox Sunday News. He said we need all our military capabilities to prevent another terrorist attack which could very well be a deadly weapons attack such as a nuclear device or biological agent. He pointed out that all the NSA is doing is collecting a bag of phone numbers which are nothing more than common business records. He then goes on to say that divulging this program reveals crucial information to our adversaries.
Are you kidding me? Even ignorant low-level drug dealers know enough to use burner phones. If you don’t watch the news you’d know phone records are routinely searched just by watching any episode of Law & Order. Besides, the NSA collection of phone records was originally revealed in 2006 and yet the program continues.
From the Archives: NSA Surveillance Seven Years Earlier
The NSA’s massive Utah Data Center s a bit overdoing it for protecting anonymous phone records. There’s a lot more to it.
PRISM Is Just Part Of A Much Larger, Scarier Government Surveillance Program
Our government, indeed any and all governments, has an insatiable appetite for data about individuals. In the past collecting vast amounts of information was expensive, time-consuming and difficult to extensively analyze. With today’s technology a colossal amount of data can be harvested instantaneously and, with data mining algorithms, configured for any type of analysis imaginable. Marketing companies use data mining all the time. I recently did some research on a product I’m thinking of buying and within minutes—minutes!—I received two tweets from a competitor who makes a similar product. This kind of power is too delicious for a government to pass up.
In the U.S., NSA collects data to protect American citizens from terrorist attacks. Nuclear devices! Biological agents! Yikes, here take whatever information about me you want. But, let’s take a look at what is happening in Scotland. Scotland isn’t exactly plagued by terrorism but they are about to launch the Data Sharing and Linkage Service (DSLS) which is being called the free world’s most intrusive database.
According to NHS Research Scotland, this snoopers’ treasure trove will boast “cradle to grave” health records, including maternity, mental health, cancer, GP and even dental notes.
The new education, childhood and parenting profiles highlighted by this newspaper in recent weeks will also be stored.
Following our original exposé, the Engage for Education quango stated categorically: “There is no national central
database – this is a myth.”However, the DSLS – which is clearly NOT a myth – will also include social care, housing and justice statistics, as well as information from the 2011 Scottish Census.
The Census had questions on areas such as financial and salary details, religious and sexual orientation, relationships and family life.
According to minutes of meetings of the “Data Linkages Operations Group”, the hoard will even include details of “vulnerable children” and “genomics” – or DNA records.
Why is the Scottish government doing this? All the better to serve you my deary dear. It’s to improve social services and for statistical research purposes. For example:
Provide support and guidance on the development of linkable local and national sources in order to enhance the quality of strategically important data resources being shared and linked for statistical research purposes.
Within that framework–
Ad-hoc research projects, or linkages conducted to answer specific research questions using statistical analyses,
such as the West of Scotland Coronary Outcomes Prevention Study.
And the data will be available beyond government use.
If a research project – whether commercial, scientific or academic – is deemed to be “legal, ethical and in the public interest”, then it will be given masses of “anonymous” data to study.
We are in a new era. Governments will collect data because they want it and they can get it. Justifications, whether it be preventing terrorist attacks or preventing heart attacks, come after.
We stand at a fork in the road. We cannot go back. If we travel the high road societies can make great progress using information wisely. Regrettably, the travel history of governments is to take the low road. It’s easy to get lost.
My thoughts exactly..Pat. 😉 Did Cheney conveniently forget that DHS and Obama decided tea party, patriot, conservative, and other groups were terrorists? Many social media member accounts, within the U.S., were hacked because they didn’t support the Obama admin.
Good post, Pat. I wonder how much Dick C. was involved in establishing the Utah NSA center? Could he be supporting his baby? If yes, then he is missing how wrongly a tyrant can use the gov’t against its own citizenry.
Yes, he was deeply involved. You are right. I don’t think Dick Cheney had or has sinister intentions. He was looking out for his country. As he said, he considers this part of the military response to terrorism. He can see only good coming out of it. He and many others truly believe we can trust the integrity of a few high level officials to shepard us safely through the pitfalls. I’m not so sure.
Thanks for this sobering post Pat_S, and well researched, as always. Cheney’s argument presupposes one would have “trust” in the government’s senior officials to carry out this surveillance program by the NSA properly. Well, I do not trust this administration to carry out the trash, much less having a top secret program like this under its thumb.
I also don’t like the thought of a chosen few who decide, we’ll keep this all a secret from the masses, because they don’t know what’s good for them. As Cheney pointed out, because O’Bummer has no credibility, programs like this will be scrutinized closely and criticized, as it should be. It is my opinion O’Bummer will use every “weapon” available to him to carry out his threat to punish his adversaries and reward his friends. Some of his weapons of choice lately have included the IRS, DOJ, DHS… I wonder what we’ll find when the layers start to come off this onion at the NSA.
I agree. We’re at the start of something extraordinarily different in human history. I don’t see how we can avoid it and I don’t know if we can properly protect liberty against it.
WE MUST abolish all these agencies that are being used as weapons against WE THE PEOPLE….
Adding a genetic profile to phone records and when and where you buy burgers and gas might produce some interesting results. With this much data to over cook, this system could build a haystack to match any needle you want. Meanwhile the threat is staring us right in the face.
More big government BS. I have great respect for Mr.Cheney, however I have zero respect for every single Demoncrat and about half of Repubics. There is no rational leadership in the mean hole known as the Beltway. Tyrannosarus Rex.
WaPo’s Dana Milbank has a good column today with an excellent opening line on the Congressional briefing yesterday on the NSA spying program.
“The Founders created a system of checks and balances. Those overseeing the nation’s spying have switched to a system of cheers and bouquets….”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-congress-has-become-a-rubber-stamp-for-the-nsa/2013/06/18/eb9ef4ee-d861-11e2-a9f2-42ee3912ae0e_story.html
The headline is good too; ‘Congress has become a rubber stamp for the NSA.’