Privacy versus Need to Know

Taken from:

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9239911/Privacy_tradeoffs_are_inevitable_to_keep_nation_safe_Obama_says

The article says:

Computerworld - President Barack Obama today forcefully defended the government's data collection activities, calling them vital to protecting the nation against terrorist attacks.

"It is important to recognize that you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama said. "We are going to have to make some choices as a society. What I can say is that, when evaluating the programs, they make a difference in our capacity to anticipate and prevent terrorist activity."

Obama's remarks are his first public comments since The Guardian on Wednesday disclosed how the NSA was collecting phone data records of all domestic and international calls made by every single Verizon customer since at least April under a secret court order. Since then, there have been at least two other reports, one by The Washington Post and the other by the Wall Street Journal, that have exposed similar large-scale data collection operations by the FBI and the NSA.

There is an old statement (that is no-longer true) - on the Internet, no one knows you are a dog.



That is no longer true - with cookies, identification of internet service providers, and much more, there is little privacy.  Even if you go go "incognito" (Google Chrome); "Private Browsing" (Firefox) or similar, you are known.

As I have traveled this summer, I find ads (frequently even the same ads) adjusted for my location.  "If you drive in <state>, you need to be aware of this new law".

I am not going to try it, but I would anticipate if I search for how to make a device that could cause a large conflagration (in other words), that I would be on somebody's list!!!