Databases
Liz Goodwin has 5 revelations from the Post’s ‘Monitoring America’ investigation. The FBI is compiling a massive database on people who haven’t committed crimes but, I guess, they think might be up to something. And this is troubling:
The FBI’s Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, or SAR, currently contains 161,948 suspicious activity files, into which authorities can put information they’ve gathered about the people at the center of the files: employment history, financial documents, phone numbers, photos. In many cases, the people in the files have not been accused of any crime but have attracted the suspicions of a local cop, FBI agent or even fellow citizen.
Ugh. Also, turns out all that anti-terrorism money flowing to the local PDs is going to buy gear to fight regular crime. Who knew?
December 21st, 2010 at 11:00 am
The cops could care less about terror. Well outside of new jersey/new york anyhow. They have real criminals to deal with. Not the ones the fbi creates through cash payment…. How about they bust all the murderers, robbers, pedophiles, and rapists then go after the terrorists when they are done…
December 21st, 2010 at 11:32 am
Oh goodie! I get to be on another Gooberment Database! Too bad this will be another useless, multi-million dollar Boondoggle. Why? Because if they ever put an actual terrorist on the list, they won’t share it with other Agencies. After all, they have their own lists to fill, right? Wonder if they’re are running out of 19 year old Jihadi Wannabes to give fake bombs to and claim they’ve shut down a major Terrorist threat? Must be why they’re looking for new recruits for their Sting Ops.
December 21st, 2010 at 11:33 am
Eurasia, Thought Police, four lights, Ministry of Truth…
December 21st, 2010 at 11:48 am
disgusting, just grr…
December 21st, 2010 at 11:59 am
Well when the terrorism boogyman doesn’t exist, no point in letting that pork go to waste
December 21st, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Obama makes Bush look like an ACLU attorney when it comes to privacy. Where are all the lefties that were screaming and poopin’ themselves over the Patriot Act?
December 21st, 2010 at 2:32 pm
It’s like the STASI or something, just make it a class assignment at School…
December 21st, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Georgex: Sceaming and pooping themselves! Read the lefty blogs!
December 21st, 2010 at 2:56 pm
What am I supposed to be terrified of, here?
That citizens can tell the cops about suspicious behavior?
Or that the cops might actually listen?
We can talk 1984 or STASI when a file like that can actually lead to, well, any sort of action by the State.
“Having files” is not what made the STASI or Gestapo the horrible enemies of liberty that they were; it was the things they did and how and why they did them.
(It’s like leftists who got in a tizzy about the FBI having “investigated” peace-agitator groups post-9/11; even though it turned out a lot of the files boiled down to “lawful activity protected by the First Amendment” and absolutely no action was taken against any of them.
I wasn’t horrified then, either.)
I share Bubblehead’s concern that this might be a waste of time and effort, definitely. But the fact that I share that concern undercuts, very strongly, any attempt to be terrified of A Coming Police State Based On Having Files.
December 21st, 2010 at 3:46 pm
The good news here is that there are so many bits of information is so many databases, that they are becoming useless. The govt is so overloaded with information that they will not have enough time to sort and review it all, thus falling victim to information overload.