I understand the importance of focusing on the government, but I think use of this sort of data should be restricted for everyone, not just the government. What happens when employers realize that you can filter out less desirable employees by correlating the movements of their social groups and cross-referencing it against credit history databases? We fear what the government can do with the data, but as a practical matter its corporate America that's more likely to actually screw over large numbers of people with this sort of data.
This is what bothers me about most of America's large tech companies' recent opposition to various NSA programs. They pioneered many of the techniques (albeit independently...usually) yet now point their fingers at the government.
Comments
I understand the importance of focusing on the government, but I think use of this sort of data should be restricted for everyone, not just the government. What happens when employers realize that you can filter out less desirable employees by correlating the movements of their social groups and cross-referencing it against credit history databases? We fear what the government can do with the data, but as a practical matter its corporate America that's more likely to actually screw over large numbers of people with this sort of data.
This is what bothers me about most of America's large tech companies' recent opposition to various NSA programs. They pioneered many of the techniques (albeit independently...usually) yet now point their fingers at the government.
History indicates to me that they're one and the same and will work together for the common goal of fleecing the masses.