Prism

[NTH]

Sparked by an remark from Archi in the BF4 topic

"Do you have something to hide?"

Why don't we break into your house and check what you've got. I bet you won't be disturbed.

What are the feeling around Prism http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance
Glad that the NSA gathering intel that prevent possible attacks?
Or scared that sooner or later that keeping the information stored for longer periods of time will lead to corruption of those who wield the information sword?

And why the fuck doesn't Google autocomplete when searching for PRISM SNO... to PRISM SNOWDEN come on Google like million people didn't search that?

Time to put on the tin foil hat and break out the conspiracies.
For the folks from the US don't worry only "foreigners"  are targeted so you can type whatever you want here.

[Born2Kill 007]

I actually don't care, i assume at any time that anything i write on the net can be accessed by anyone any time, so no problem for me. I'm actually even glad that Prism exists. The terrorrists will get paranoid and have it a lot harder to communicate, and i believe many terrorrist attacks have already been stopped by it. Also wouldn't surprise me if it was Prism that found Osama. As long as there's control on it and it isn't abused, i'm ok with Prism. And honestly: Is there anyone surprised by this?

PS: China and Russia are doing probably the same, with or without googles consent, some good hackers is all you need for this if they don't give you consent, and Russia and China have them. They just don't have a leak like this.

[McCloskey]

Mirror's Edge... SoonTM.

[Korsakov829]

Well, this just makes it riskier for me radicalize people over the internet and organize attacks.

[Dukat]

These are my thoughts about Prism in one picture:

http://i.qkme.me/35n5d3.jpg

[CHRISTIEFRONTDRIVE]

My thoughts are that if you stuff 7,000,000,000 people onto one planet, every so often one of them is going to blow up a few of the others. As sad as this is, if we really want to stop these kinds of things from happening we should be finding ways to stop it that don't involve fucking with innocent people who have done nothing wrong.

Having said that, I don't really give a shit. People act like the internet is a God-given right and if you haven't figured out by now that the internet is forever and that the only fool-proof way to stop sensitive information being stolen is to keep that information to yourself, I don't know what to tell you.

As for people spying on me.. why? I'll happily send dick pics to anyone who asks for them. The last time I got drunk I wound up so wasted I pissed in the corner of my room while singing Blood on the Risers to myself. Do you spy fucks reading this think you're going to embarrass me? And even if I could be blackmailed, why would anyone bother? I just sit around doing sweet fuck all every day, it's not like I've spent my life preparing to run for Prime Minister and now the NSA has come along and fucked it all up.

[LHeureux]

PRISM :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QoNouEfjuo

[THeTA0123]

the goverments just wanna monitor there slaves much better. This is just the beginning.

i am just gonna remain the sheep tough.

[Slayer]

As long as there's control on it and it isn't abused, i'm ok with Prism.

The problem isn't Prism per se, it is this. How would people know it isn't abused? Right, they don't.

Again it's coming down to fear. I'm not afraid of terrorists, so for me there is no need to control everything (on the net or anywhere else). And since it is well known by governments that fear is the best argument they can use, they think they can do everything by simpl,y stating it is against terrorism (or, back in the days of the Cold War - against the USSR).

Question: why was this all kept secret if it was only with the best intentions, to keep the "good people" safe?

[Surfbird]

Question: why was this all kept secret if it was only with the best intentions, to keep the "good people" safe?

To avoid shitstorm. They don't want to leave people a choice. Once it's established people are not going to do as much about it. If they would announce it, there would be big time protests to stop them from using it, which would mean unnecessary trouble for them.

I wonder though. Does this stuff really surprise anyone? Everyone talking about the US spying us everywhere and I have just always thought this is the case anyway. This is what comes with using the internet and the advanced technology anyway. When it's possible to spy on people, some countries are going to do it. The British do the same as the US apparently which is absolutely no surprise when you look at the cameras in public for example. I think every stable state is doing it to a certain extend. Some don't have the technology, others might have more limits than US or GBR, but I'm sure it's happening.

I'm quite annoyed by all the people and the media going "oh my goood, they are spying on us." You must be pretty blind if you have ever thought that this is not the case.

Edit: Even funnier all the people blaming Obama for it. If I would be US president I'd run that program too I am sure. When you have the technology you don't just ignore it because of moral. You know, it's not only about spying on people and identifying terrorists, it's also about competition with China for example. If the US does not invest in such projects, their position and political importance hits ground bottom sooner than you think.

In the end prism is one of many firewalls to prevent terrorism, economic espionage and any kind of similar problems. It's how the world works today. Arms race might have decreased, but the race for superiority in telecommunications and surveillance has just begun.

[Slayer]

Question: why was this all kept secret if it was only with the best intentions, to keep the "good people" safe?

To avoid shitstorm. They don't want to leave people a choice. Once it's established people are not going to do as much about it. If they would announce it, there would be big time protests to stop them from using it, which would mean unnecessary trouble for them.

OK, so they rather have a bigger shitstorm when it comes out anyway?

About surprise: no, of course it isn't a surprise, but that doesn't mean it is making it all OK.

In the end prism is one of many firewalls to prevent terrorism, economic espionage and any kind of similar problems. It's how the world works today. Arms race might have decreased, but the race for superiority in telecommunications and surveillance has just begun.

Hurray, 1984: here we come!

[Surfbird]

I don't say it's all okay. And yes, once it's already established it's easier to stick to it when it comes out. Also it was not planned the public is going to take notice of it, although they know the risk running such a program.

I'm not fine with this system, but it's just the way it works nowadays. With the developement of internet and the giant improvement in communications leaves a lot of room to overwatch. I don't really like it, but as I said, it comes kinda naturally with the internet. There's just nothing to do against it and I'm not going to fight it. There are way bigger problems in the world to worry about for me. I would welcome if they would reduce this to certain groups of people or something, but then Russia and China still check my data, so it does not really matter.

[Slayer]

I would welcome if they would reduce this to certain groups of people or something, but then Russia and China still check my data, so it does not really matter.

How are you/we so sure that Russia and China are checking our data? I'm not saying they aren't but is there any proof?

I ask, because in the Cold War the US was superconvinced that the USSR had way more nuclear missiles than they had (the "missile gap"), so they started producing more to close that "gap". In 1960, the US government knew that they had been wrong about it: instead of a gap in Soviet favour, there was a huge gap in US favour. Still, they kept this silent, so more and more missiles could be produced (another example of the isntrument of fear). Why wouldn't that be the case with this situation?

[Surfbird]

Of course I have no proof. This is pure theory.

But when you see Chinese government hacking major US companies, then I figure they don't completely suck at internet espionage. Would be weird if a country like this would not use their skills and technology to their benefit. Well, maybe they leave it at spying people in their own country, maybe Taiwan, Japan and some others and not Europe yet. Probably a matter of time though.

Look at Russias situation. Look at the journalists that have mysteriously died in the past and look at Russia trying to silence any criticism and any kind of opposition. What would come in more handy than such a program to spy on people that work against their government?

I just state my opinion and my believes here. I don't want to come up with conspiracy theories or anything, although it might sound like that to you. Generally, I just think this is a regular tool for secret services of the big states nowadays or the near future. It's just about logical theories and conclusions for me. Fine when you disagree, but I don't say this without thoughts in the back of my head.
---

About the second part. I see your point. The US even said they are not on par with China when some company was hacked and that they will need to upgrade their defense against hackers and secure important data better than they are right now. Of course it could be that they use this to go far further than that and go in the offense for themselves with a program like prism now. Surely possible. I even think that they want to keep up with other countries or want to have a better program than they have.

But I don't even think the main intention were other countries, the program was probably started or improved within terror attacks in order to prevent terrorists getting into the country and in order to acknowledge locations of enemies outside the country.

So I rather think it's the other way around. Other big nations feel the need to keep up with the US. I simply can't imagine that any of those governments have scruple using it and would not want to take advantage of it, looking at the situation of the country and knowing that even democratic and free countries like USA and GBR use it. But the comparance to nuclear weapons is not bad. Having more "power" owning them although they are morally questionable is comparable to using a program like prism, isn't it?

[Archimonday]

I still think that guy is full of shit, and just another guy who wants attention. Now he gets to live out his James Bond dream in fear, as the United States government hunts him down like the traitorous defector he is.