Do you think your government is spying on you?

I sincerely doubt it.

The issue is not are they spying on you. They are.
The question is what do they do with the information they gather on you.

Yes, I was trying to edit my question, and it timed out. I know they are spying on all of us, but they ratcheted it up quite a bit for this guy.

I would be surprised if they don’t.
Somewhere between protesting going to war on a country with whom the U.S. had no valid issue (Iraq), attending Occupy events, and registering to attend some progressives seminars, my face/name has probably shown up on their radar.
So far I’ve had no issues travelling.

There’s a file on everyone.

You can write to the FBI and get a copy of your file. At least, you could in the 80s. That’s when a former teacher of mine got a copy.

He said it listed every magazine he had ever subscribed to, the fact that he contributed to the NAACP, and that he was treated for tear gas exposure following an anti-Vietnam rally.

I had a weird experience as a teenager. It was quite brief and I have never experienced it again.

Anyway, I was 16 and was on my way in to work, as I got to the door I noticed a guy in a black suit and tie holding the door open. He said hello to me and spoke my name. I had never seen this guy before and had no identifying items on me. Nobody around me that I knew had spoken my name so It was very strange that this seemingly random dude knew it. I went in, clocked in and started working. The guy came in and sat down at a table with another guy in a black suit and they both stayed there for at least an hour just watching everything. Neither one of them ordered food. They eventually left and I never saw them again. What the hell were they doing?

It was the strangest experience of my life.

Some days I feel like I’m starring in my very own remake of Truman.

@flip86 They were waiting for this moment in time. Now that you’ve exposed them, they’re coming after you. Sorry

I’m sure for most of us manpower is not being tasked with going through our garbage and whatnot. But I’m pretty sure with things like how the government asks for backdoor access to ISPs we’re all being passively surveilled and a comprehensive file of our digital doings could be pulled up in a second if a human being at some agency requests it.

Why I don’t think they are.
; )
Ha, ha. Ha, Ha. Did you READ that big brother!!!
My story. Subject woke up. Went to the bathroom to freshen up. Flushed the toilet. Washed her hands. Let the dog out. Got annoyed with the dog. Made and ate breakfast. Used too much butter on her toast. Called her mom. Talk about really dumb crap. Went on fluther. Went on youtube and looked up information about UFO’s and strange creatures, then went on to organizing her garage.
Yeah! Let them waste there time. Whatever.
Tomorrow I may paint my nails and watch them dry. They should just come over. It would be nice to have company. We can both watch my nails dry. LOL

They’ve likely got data on all of us. What concerns me is the possibility of getting erroneously flagged as dangerous by some big-ass dragnet profiling program that is supposed discover genuine bad guys. I have no confidence that can be done automatically with sufficient accuracy to avoid some tragic consequences.

Yes. but it’s nothing personal. and they couldn’t find my data in the pile of shit they have on everyone anyway.

Honestly, in this day and age, I’ve never been more relieved to be a white girl of Irish descent with a totally normal-sounding name.

I just know I’m not floating to the top of any profiling lists.

@Seek_Kolinahr unless they collaborate with British intelligence and you’re suspected being part of the IRA

I work with data algorithms and performance is spotty especially when data comes from multiple unsanitized sources with multiple points of possible garble and confusion. It just seems to me more likely that they stockpile your digital footprint in case your name comes up through more traditional investigation means.
If they are using a big data-dredging algorithm they would still have to spend so much manpower cleaning up the results it would barely break even.

The second saddest part behind the fact that domestic spying of the magnitude being done shits all over everything every American has fought and died defending, is that with all of the capital and human resources that have been squandered on this 1984 bullshit, could have been put to use infiltrating, bribing, and otherwise taking down terrorist cells using conventional spying methodologies that have been perfected over thousands of years. We will catch more bad guys with undercover agents, surveillance, and old-school spy ops than with sifting through every grandma’s e-mail and google search.

Haha, doc. Born in America and my father’s a closed Irish adoption case. No ties to the motherland here.

Why wouldn’t we think we’re being spied on? That’s all we read and hear day after day after day. Me, I’ll start worrying when the mattress police knock on my door and ask why I ripped a tag off my new pillow. Meanwhile, I’m not losing any sleep.

It’s exactly like @josie said. The government—every government—spies on everyone it can. Do I think they’re spying on me more than they spy on the average person? Maybe. Probably not as much as the average Muslim, though.

Worst case, in my opinion, is that because there is so much information on so many of us, if someone in power wants to nail someone for political or personal reasons then all they’d have to do is command, “here’s a name, find something on him/her, and lock ‘em up.”

@dabbler I think identity thieves are more likely to screw up your life. And talk about proof. It is harder then heck to fix your credit and your name or reputation after one of those a-holes get a hold of your information. They worry me more because you really don’t have to do anything or be involve in any special interests group for them to screw you over. And the proof of burden is always on the victim.

@dabbler Easier: don’t lock them up, destroy them professionally. Pull up their search history, their facebook pics, etc. Then blackmail or smear all over the press.

“If it saves just one life…”

is today’s equivalent to

“He made the trains run on time.”

We absolutely needed a substitute, too, because the trains are shutting down and falling off the rails, and the planes sure don’t run on time.

@CWOTUS Right? “If it saves just one life” is ridiculous in a country founded on “give me liberty or give me death.”

I just assume that anyone can see and hear me anytime, anywhere. And every time I think of it, I give the sky the middle finger.

I doubt it. But every so often I think if someone is watching and they take something I write out of context I could be screwed. I think the government could make your life miserable or do a lot of harm if they decide you for some reason are to be watched. At the same time, I don’t really care if I am watched because I know I don’t do anything wrong.

My mom worries about the whole Big Brother thing, she convinced me to renew my last passport before they added the chip to US passports. I did what she told me, because basically I do whatever she tells me to do, and now I think I kind of want the US government to be able to easily track me in and out of other countries.

I have a file so to speak because I sponsored my husband when we got married and I turned in fingerprints, signed federal documents, etc. They said they lost the fingerprints (long story, and in my opinion it’s a racket) but I think it is likely the file, prints and other documentation exists somewhere in some file drawer. But, I have my doubts the left hand really talks to the right anyway, unless you do something very suspcious and they start gathering all the separate data on you.

@Seek_Kolinahr My BIL has a very Irish sounding name (he is actually Scottish) and his name was on the terrorist list. All sorts of hassle at the airports. Has to be from the IRA days I assume. Although, relating to this Q, I don’t think the government was watching him, he just had the same name as someone who was to be watched out for.

I know they are. Maybe not me personally, but I expect it’s only a matter of time.

They’d only be spying on boring old me if they have WAY too much idle time on their hands.

If some low level analyst is looking at all my data, he would surely die…

…of boredom :)

@Pandora True about identity theft being a problem, but I was focusing only on government implications.
@drhat77 Indeed. All that sort of thing goes in the same bucket with lockup, if you ask me, the basic effect is to destroy someone’s life, all based on info that was collected “innocently” before there was any cause for surveillance.

I hardly think I’m worth their time.

I think it would be silly to focus on being spied on, but equally naive to believe they’re not. Since the 1960’s phone calls have been recorded, and as technology grows, so does Big Brother’s options.

I’m very amused by the idea of anyone spying on me. Just think how bored that person would be. And, here’s how the operative’s daily report might read:

“Housewife went to the market and returned home with 3 bags of what appeared to be groceries. On housewife’s trip to the market, she stopped briefly at library and post office. At library, she walked in with what appeared to be a book and left without it. At post office, she entered the facility with what appeared to be a large, flat envelope and left without it. Later in the afternoon, housewife was observed pulling what appeared to be weeds from her garden.”

What happens if you do something perfectly legal like participate in a peaceful government protest? What guarantee do we have that this will not be held against you? There is face recognition technology being developed that could one day pick your face out in a crowd. If there is no review of government spying it is pretty much guaranteed that the power will be abused.

It’s not “one day,” @LostInParadise. Face recognition is here and now. That’s how they caught the Boston bombers so quickly.

Of course.

they use face recognition software to retrieve your lost Facebook password.

I don’t file IRS returns anymore, they know everything about me already.

@LostInParadise Absolutely my point. Thanks for stating it so clearly.

Fuck yeah, I would if I were them.

I’m pretty sure they do. For sure, they must have all the information on us that they want, or need. How they go about it though, wouldn’t know. ID, things you buy, the Internet, every day records of all sorts. They can probbaly see us right here on Fluther, if they’ve a mind to.

Hey government, up yours! Bum hole.

But I mean seriously, I am pretty sure they have tabs on just about everyone. I think that if you’re homeless, or go out to live in some forest, they could still find you if they really wanted to. Granted, most of what I’m basing this on is si fi entertainment, but somehow I’m pretty sure the government isn’t some kind and loving king who trusts us, ya know?

If that’s true @Symbeline, why does it take so long for some criminals to come to justice? Why do some criminals never even get caught?

As far as I’m concerned, justice is a lot like a corporation. Why is it that a pedophile who does get caught might serve two years, while someone who pirates movies can get much more? I know that seems an issue of morality at first, but to me it also seems very close to money. They probably have priorities. I suppose they go after the big fish first. I mean, they caught Bin Laden, didn’t they? He was hiding out for ever, but they got him, and he wasn’t American. I sincerely believe the government has tabs on everyone, but by that, I mean in their own countries. How far it goes, or who is allied with who, wouldn’t know, if that is even the case. aliens, perhaps. Or Russia

Well, if they are, what kinds of things are they looking for?

I don’t think it’s so much looking for something specific, (besides potential threats) rather than it is knowing what people are doing, and where they are. Why though, I don’t know.

Here we go with the abuse-for-totally-irrelevant-reasons angle : NSA Officers Spy on Love Interests

Yeah, what’s new, as if we can trust our government?

With all of the excessive spying, how did they not see the shit in Syria?

They did. I heard last night that Russia and America are now on the same page, with the same goals regarding Syria. :) So much for WWIII.

No, I mean why did they wait so long before they decided it was an urgent issue?

@cheebdragon It has been apparent this is an urgent situation from the start.
The power company TEPCO have said everything is aok, work in progress, we’re doing the right thing. ... Except recently they have admitted leakage from one of the constantly growing number of huge storage tanks with radioactive water in them from ongoing reactor cooling in the damaged reactors. 400 metric tons of new radioactive water have to be stored every day.

So, oops, they’re wrong, actually there is a problem, the tanks, that are overtaking the land around the reactor, are originally designed to be temporary and easy to put up. They are using them in this case because they need more capacity daily.
The sections are sealed to each other with rubber gaskets, not welded.

Not my government, but the NSA, yes. They apply the Patriot Act worldwide. European laws are being ignored. Non-Americans have no rights in the eyes of the NSA. We are fair game.

@mattbrowne Yep, nobody, NOBODY has any rights. Except for the NSA folks and their ilk. You have company.

@snowberry – Formally, American citizens do have rights. A judge has to authorize the invasion of privacy. But when the NSA invades the privacy of people outside of US jurisdiction, this important checks and balances principle is ignored. This only makes sense for people in hostile countries like North Korea and Iran. Now people in allied countries get the feeling the US has become a hostile country, because it no longer respect those important rights. If this trend continues the US will soon be isolated with the UK, Canada and Australia as the only friends. Brazil is pissed too, not just Germany.

I hadn’t thought of that, but good point. I wonder if anyone in our government has thought of that. LOL

While I’m sure they spy on people who trigger reasons to be spied upon, I don’t think they spy on me personally. They would be pretty darn bored if they did! A few years ago, everyone was flipping out about those new Internet/Interactive TVs that have some way to spy. But if you don’t have any thing to hide, why worry? If someone spied on me through my TV they would see me sitting there eating…napping…super exciting stuff!

^^ <em>But if you don’t have any thing to hide, why worry?</em>

Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and cryptographer, expressed opposition, citing Cardinal Richelieu’s statement “If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged”, referring to how a state government can find aspects in a person’s life in order to prosecute or blackmail that individual. Schneier also argued “Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy. The real choice is liberty versus control.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nothing_to_hide_argument

Also…

3 Reasons the ‘Nothing to Hide’ Crowd Should Be Worried About Government Surveillance

And…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

I’m with @Seek_Kolinahr on this. If we somehow justify “a need to spy on everyone to preserve the security of this State”, then I’d say that it’s a State that has lost its reason for being in the first place and has no validity worth preseving. We should chuck it entirely and start a new one. The only question left is, “What will it take to cause that, and can we do it without excessive and widespread violence?”

This State was started with acts of extreme disagreement with existing law, progressing quickly to open rebellion toward the motherland, then culminating in a Declaration of Independence and armed revolution and overthrow of that oppressive government in order to establish a new one based on different ideals. Certainly the motherland’s rulers at the time felt equally justified in “doing whatever it takes” to maintain the status quo. Even on this side of the Atlantic, probably a majority of citizens supported the “whatever it takes to maintain the status quo” crowd.

If we’re no longer living up to the ideals of our own Constitution – and it’s pretty clear that in the main we stopped governing according to those rules many years ago, but the degree of breach is now quite breathtaking – then isn’t it time for another Revolution?