By:
Nicole Belle on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 9:01 AM - PST
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You have to know that the news that Intelligence official Donald Kerr suggesting the Americans need to redefine “privacy” to not mean “anonymity” from the govenment, but trust that they (and corporations) will protect their information nonetheless would raise the hackles of Our Man Jack Cafferty.
His Cafferty File question was the simple: Why should we?
Digby gives her take as well.
No Trackbacks To “The Cafferty File: Redefining Privacy“
78 Responses for “The Cafferty File: Redefining Privacy”
Frist to reveal myself.
It’s completely unthinkable and people had better start registering their dissent.
I REFUSE to re-define my right to privacy. He can go straight to Hell.
Eff that! Redefine privacy my ass… Where’s the Red Queen when you need her?
If you want to object to this invasion of privacy, sign up below with your credit card information and SSN and driver’s license number…. www.bushcrimefamily.com
I guess life is a comic book - for some reason all of this is reminding me of the Marvel Civil War series…
Love to see these people howl and moan when/if Hillary gets into office and her administration continues down this treacherous path (which she most likely will). It’s not a warm fuzzy feeling of security when an administration you don’t trust is “safe-guarding” your privacy and the right-wing who currently supports all this unconstitutional crap will be pissing their britches in a few years.
Americans need to redefine “privacy” to not mean “anonymity” from the govenment
Last I checked the “government” was supposed to be “we the people” and we, the people, have had enough.
Here is a thought: it is time Americans redefine executive privilege so that Bush and co. can no longer hide their crimes and treasons.
These freaking authoritarians even want to control the language.
Of course Orwell already saw that coming.
I have to wonder what’s in Cafferty’s file.
I happen to be reading Jane Fonda’s autobiography–she sued the gov. for invasion of privacy, and won. Those were the good ol days.
eh…. this why i don’t watch CNN…
We’ve allowed ourselves to become so detached from our government that we forget that *we* are the government, or we’re supposed to be at least. They serve at *our* pleasure…we are not their subjects. I’d like to think that someday we’ll wake up and remember that, but I’m far to realistic to believe it.
What Privacy?
Required @ 11:
Day after day we must be reminded!
Privacy has already been redefined. We are all irreversibly trapped in networks of databases that that are capable of producing profiles of us that know more about us than we do ourselves.
These databases are not just the product of governments but also corporations and the media. See this only half-joking essay about Murdoch and MySpace:
The MySpace World Domination Conspiracy
Be Afraid…Be Vey Afraid.
Government and businesses [should] properly safeguard people’s private communications and financial information.
Citizens must ask: when did corporations become equals with “government”?
Corporations in the United States are going to be the downfall of our Constitution…not a single nut-case or two sitting in the White House.
As long as people are willing to do the bidding of corporations and are prevented from forming unions to go up against corporations on an equal footing, our country as we know it is going to evolve into something uglier than it is today.
Remember: It was AT&T that set up the splitter that cracked wide open our privacy.
Mark @ News Corpse @ 14:
Screw Fear.
It is true though Seven Years is a long time to gather intelligence with the help of super data mining computers.
Narus is a private company founded in 1997 by Ori Cohen, who had been in charge of technology development for VDONet, an early media streaming pioneer.
It is notable for being the creator of NarusInsight, a supercomputer system which is used by the NSA and other bodies to perform mass surveillance and monitoring of citizens’ and corporations’ Internet communications in real-time, and whose installation in AT&T’s San Francisco Internet backbone gave rise to a 2006 class action lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T.
Trust The Bush Administration?
LOL
Speaking of Privacy
3 minutes ago
SAN FRANCISCO - Yahoo Inc. on Tuesday settled a lawsuit with two Chinese journalists who were jailed after the company provided Chinese authorities with information about their online activities.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Bob in Thailand @ 18:
I second that. LOL
Right on! @ 4:
I second that. Where the h*ll do these jokers get off “redefining” privacy and telling us to trust them?
Mark @ News Corpse @ 14:
Be Afraid…Oy Vey?
I already am on the bizarrest mailing list imaginable, can’t imagine what a data base on me would say.
I go from reading books like The Mabinogion, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, to Phantom Detective, The Lone Ranger and the entire Captain Underpants series.
Scytherius @ 3:
And he can take Chimpy and Dickless Cheney with him. Perhaps then the planet would start smelling better.
Right. We’re supposed to sit there meekly and let Narus paw through our phone and internet communications, but somehow, the Bush Administration maintains they ‘lost’ 5 million e-mails, and large swathes of their perfidy are ‘classified’ only after questions arise about their legality.
But as soon as Kerr removes the locks on his doors, the curtains from his windows, and starts using postcards for all his correspondence, then we can accept his argument that anonymity is changing in this brave new world of corporate/government surveillance.
Bob in Thailand @ 18:
I remember Election night 2000. When it stalled in Florida my first thought was my gawd these rotten bastards are trying to pull a coup.
How did Repubs become the party of “Just trust Big Brother”?
“I am of the opinion, on the whole, that the manufacturing aristocracy which is growing up under our eyes is one of the harshest that ever existed in the world; but at the same time it is one of the most confined and least dangerous. Nevertheless, the friends of democracy should keep their eyes anxiously fixed in this direction; for if ever a permanent inequality of conditions and aristocracy again penetrates into the world, it may be predicted that this is the gate by which they will enter.”
~Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America published 1835
In 1835, he was telling us to watch out for corporations influnecing our government and screwing the common man. In 1835, a French citizen saw this as a potential problem in our government, way back when and was warning us to watch out for it!
Cafferty missed the point - a first.
The government has always invaded privacy and it has always been illegal. Meaning, the information gained wasnt legal or ‘actionable’ and in fact the collection of such information exposed government and corporations (recall that corporate use of ‘privacy’ was part of the issue raised) to consequences.
There has been a creeping history over the recent fascist years - say 40 years - that includes weakening of miranda, suspicion and probable cause and now national defense from imminent harm. What they have been and are trying to do is two fold.
1) Immunize themselves from the negative consequences of criminal activity consequential to the collection of private information - immunize themselves, not you. Their privacy will still be legally protected.
2) Allow the use of formerly illegally collected information. This will effect evidenciary law.
3) Since they have been violating the law from the start of the Bush administration, they will almost surely make this all retroactive.
This is a general sketch. I would note however that this can also be seen as a plan B. Plan A was retroactive immunity as proposed for the new FISA legislation - which may not happen.
(unedited)
ysbaddaden @ 22:
My bookshelf includes titles on firearms, police procedure, cryptography, world religion (including Islam and Wicca), as well as a number of evil roleplaying games (which have been blamed for everything from school shootings to turning children away from God).
I’ll either be teaching in the underground after America collapses, or be a political prisoner for the offense of reading something other than the Bible and Tim La Haye.
the cons loved spending trillions on the cold war only to adopt all the stasi policies
In the future, only the authoritarians will remain anonymous. Or is that the present?
Funny how privacy only applies to Republican Congressmen (Filegate), and Executive Priviledge.
So if this “top intelligence official” doesn’t believe in anonymity, why didn’t he/she put their name on that quote?
jr @ 30:
Education is expensive.
Why shouldn’t all business calls be reviewed by other businesses?
If businesses aren’t doing anything wrong, they shouldn’t worry about their phone calls being recorded and reviewed. Same for attorneys, doctors, psychiatrists, politicians, and police stations.
What could go wrong?
[deleted–do not advocate violence on this site]
Privacy under the thumb of the Bush Administration: n. (nonsequitur) Standing naked in Times Square during rush hour.
Okay, if we have to tell them what we’re up to………………….the government has to tell us what it’s up to. Seems fair.
L.A. Confidential @ 13:
Indeed….everytime I bring up such things to friends…they say it’s too late to do anything about it…and as long as they can still have their creature comforts they don’t really care….THAT fuckin pisses me right off!!! most people in this country are so fuckin self centered and apathetic…GAAAH!!!!
Those were some pretty good emails.
L.A. Confidential @ 25:
same here! my second thought was we’re goin to war…
Sooner rather than later, the digital revolution will force us into hammering out our newest definition of freedom under the laws of our making.
In his war on domestic Liberty, the Bush administration intends to present us with a fait accompli. TelCom amnesty is their Grail.
I expect no less from the GOP.
But too many congressional democrats (such as “my senator”, Dianne Feinstein) are prepared to aid and abet this coup.
I’ll be finished with that party, forever, should it pass muster. It will have proved the final capitulation I was prepared to tolerate. They will have proved themselves so profoundly unworthy of safeguarding our basic freedoms as to merit extinction as a political organization.
Redefine my privacy to exclude the expectation of anonymity because one Donald Kerr thinks we should just trust the government and corporations to take care of our personal information?… Well, hell, why not? After all, with the sterling track record of both entities to date in protecting the privacy and finances of the general public in this post-modern auto-mated world, what’s not to like about his notions???… Especially if you’re an identity thief or some political hack looking for people to put on some ‘political enemies list’… I guess my only real question is… What the fuck kind of drugs are you on you figgin neocon idiot!!!! How’s that kool-aid taste you punkass lyin globalist fuck!!! Fuck you and this loony idea of yours.. My short answer is I got a big ol knuckle sammich for ‘Mr.’ Kerr and his ‘idea’…….JD
Here’s a tip. Anytime you see the words ‘corporate’ or ‘corporation’ mixed with political or social policy, run like a wild man.
Jack Damage @ 43:
Read 28. This is an alternative to proposed immunity in the FISA legislation. That is - if there is no basis for an expectation of privacy, then the telecoms and the government didnt violate the law.
The only politicos that believe in privacy is for tapdancing in the toilet.
29 Shadowgm
Who’s Tim LaHaye?
Yeah. They’re arguing against anonymity at the same time that Yahoo! founder Jerry Yang gets spanked by Congress for outing a Chinese dissident.
Again, we see that the trappings of a fascist state aren’t wrong when we can slap a coat of faux patriotism over it to hide the blight and the stench.
Anon;
Perhaps I have not made myself clear… As regarding telcom amnesty? I am against that as well… Strongly against that.
Plan B or plan Z, I don’t care.. I’m sick of of those who want to undermine our liberties, privacy protections etc… I’m sick of it all. By god, those that are working to undermine this nation for there own greed driven reasons needs to be brought to accounts.
I have ranted ad nuseum where I believe that accountabilty should start and what methods should be utilized…JD
ysbaddaden @ 47:
Evangelical minister and co-author of the Left Behind novels.
Let’s redefine nose. Keep your FISA nose out of my privacy!
Let’s redefine ‘Executive Privilige’, and the Corporation as a ‘person’.