Is this something to be concerned about
By bobmnu
@bobmnu (8157)
United States
March 19, 2012 1:53pm CST
It seems that the NSA (National Security Agency) is building a new Data Collection Center in Utah. It should be noted that the NSA is charged with protecting the American People from a suprise attack. It was formed after Pearl Harbor to prevent such a thing from happening again. As good as it may be it failed to predict the 9/11 attack, US embassy bombings, the attack on the USS Cole, the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the Meliminum bomber, or the Fort Hood shooter. With an impressive list of accomplishments or lack of the NSA is now in the process of building a new data Collection center the Utah Data Center.
It seems that this facility will be able to down load all sorts of electronic communications and according to some it will be able to collect "Pocket Litter" (digital receipts, tolls, parking paid for with a credit card, etc). There are even reports that the new center will house the code breakers who will have the ability to cryptanalyze, or break, unfathomably complex encryption systems many of which are used by banks and other institutions who use the Internet to conduct business. Now the government will have the ability to monitor all your electronic dealings.
I guess Speaker Pelosi was right we have to pass this stuff to find out what is in it and how the rule makers will interpret the true meaning of all of this stuff.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/1
http://gcn.com/articles/2011/01/07/nsa-spy-cyber-intelligence-data-center-utah.aspx
2 people like this
3 responses
@laglen (19759)
• United States
20 Mar 12
Bob, let me clear this up for you. The only terrorists that the White House are watching now are "American citizens". People exercising their rights. 1st amendment, 2md amendment..... these are the terrorists now. While reading your discussion, I am listening to a news clip about the President and giving himself the ability to declare martial law during peace times. I am digging a hole to hide in now....
@debrakcarey (19887)
• United States
20 Mar 12
I think the government has technology to find you even in a hole.
1 person likes this
but you are right. How about an island in Antarctica?
@knoodleknight18 (917)
• United States
20 Mar 12
All this effort yet look at how bad they tend to be at finding people they really want to find. If they were good at tracking things you think they'd be wasting billions on a system that can be circumvented by using cash. BTW a lot of people still get paid cash, they're not terrorists, they're people who work for tips, and other industries where people often pay cash, or they can't afford the expenses of credit card fees and electronic banking fees.
As scary as it sounds, it's going to be as effective as they hope. That stuff never works out the way they think, it always has bugs, delays, and other issues, not to mention a lot human error. Remember Katrina and don't underestimate the ability of the government to completely screw something fairly simple.
@Rollo1 (16676)
• Boston, Massachusetts
20 Mar 12
"Pocket Litter", eh? Well, it certainly helps to make sense as to how "people who pay in cash" came to be viewed as potential terrorists by the DHS. If you make people afraid to use cash, they have to use cards and electronic payments and that makes them easier for the NSA to collect data on.
Infrastructure. It is all falling into place, and it's a lot like one of those movies about a dystopian future. I no longer think anyone could be called paranoid for worrying about the overreach of our government.
