Last week, I noted that the Department of Homeland Security was building a social media score. Apparently, commercially available data from all manner of tech companies has been sought after, and the details have been released. Apparently the information is considered “open source” in that they can purchase all kinds of details that might be stripped of your name or address. The problem is that we already know that combining many bits and pieces of data from disparate sources can actually lead to specifically identifying people through the combination of data. This does not bode well for anyone who believes in privacy, the 4th Amendment, and smaller government. My biggest question is why the government is so interested in all of this data.
Commercially available data from cars, phones and web browsers rivals results from wiretaps, cyber espionage and physical surveillance
Found at www.wsj.com
