Something Feral

Digging up the flower-beds.


Wednesday, September 24, 2008

"No doubt the precogs have already seen this."

"Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of PreCrime; how may I direct your call?":
Individuals detected as suspicious by FAST will be pulled aside for light questioning by security staff. Information processed by the system will never be matched with names, said Verrico, and it will only be used to help security screeners decide whom to question. After that, data from FAST is discarded.

Beyond simply discarding data, Verrico points out that the system is subject to intense privacy controls (PDF).


Yuh huh. Ignoring the flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment for a moment, Homeland Security isn't known for its practice of hiring the most intelligent or discrete amongst the population. If anything, DHS is known for repeated abuse of its power in the most indefensible manner conceivable. To make the claim that any data collected would be "subject to intense privacy controls" frankly flies in the face of both common-sense and the track-record of DHS.

Wheedling for the nation to trust in the goodness and wholesomeness of the government isn't going to cut it. Constitutionally, it's not an option. And while that hasn't stopped the government from overstepping its authority before, it certainly does not excuse the attempt.

Government of any stripe has a habit of creating problems, then proposing a government-created solution to said problems. In this case, at best, they fear what the public will do without such a system in place, but perhaps they should harbor a greater fear for what the public will do once such a system is implemented.

4 comments:

Elusive Wapiti said...

"Intense privacy conrols" makes me feel so much safer.

I'll vote for it!

Something Feral said...

As would I! But, I think we can hold out for another season of Circus on ABCNNBCBS, and more bread.

Seriously though, this isn't even a subtle power-grab. For anything slightly sentient, this should be terrifying.

Oops, ain't supposed to use that word. Terror is on of those "foreign exports".

I mean, "patriotically inspiring".

Elusive Wapiti said...

The worse part about all this is that I don't want DHS' protection.

I can take care of myself, and I wager that many others would feel the exact same way if only we'd be allowed to do so.

Something Feral said...

"Say, dat's a nice little Constitution you gots there... Be a shame if sumtin were to 'happen' to it."

It's a protection racket. I'm not looking forward to when it's finally too much for John and Jane Q. Public to take, and something awful happens. Pro Libertate had a good article today about the enforcement branch for the edicts that are handed down from on high.

I'm 100% on-board with your thoughts, though. I can, do, and will take care of myself, and will look out for me and mine in the future. Prepping for the future is slow-going at the moment, but as the old saying goes, "Those that sweat in peace bleed less in war."