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Americans, how do you feel about being stored in a database by government agencies like the NSA?

Every search you make, email you send, text message, voice chat, location, and most likely the conversations you have in your own home are monitored and stored in a database for whoever knows how long (probably forever). When I hear land of the free, I immediately think bullshit. We are slowly losing our freedoms, what can we do to prevent this? I mean, when Edward Snowden dropped the leaks, people protested, but barely anything changed. What can we do? This post not only applies to Americans, your own government in another country may possibly does the same thing. Feel free to comment!

GBU_28 ,

I don’t worry about it, currently.

I know any country I’d want to live, they are doing the same thing. Just perhaps not as effectively.

That’s no excuse, it sucks. But it doesn’t disturb me outright that the US gov is doing it.

agamemnonymous ,
@agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works avatar

Frankly I’ve accepted it, minimized my interactions with the database(s), and don’t worry about it. “They” don’t have anywhere near the capacity to meaningfully process all that raw data for every person. Sure if you’re popping up red flags left and right you’ll get assigned to someone who will scrutinize you more thoroughly, but as long as you’re boring (in a traceable capacity) no one has the resources to go over all your messages with a fine-toothed comb.

If you don’t like being in a database, don’t interact with systems that lit you in a database. Drop social media, get rid of your phone, stay off the Internet. There are steps you can take to avoid extensive records in “the system”, but people generally don’t like taking them because “the system” has fun content they don’t want to miss. If you want to have your name and eat it too, just be boring.

drascus ,

I honestly think it’s everyone’s responsibility to make their job as hard as possible. Use providers that prioritize privacy and that are located outside the US. Don’t ever use telephony or sms always use end to end encrypted services for conversations, leave your phone at home or turn it off, use a rom without Google play services. Really drive them nuts and use cash for most purchases. This by no means stops everything but it makes it harder. You can’t stop all data collection but you can reduce it and every reduction helps.

TechNerdWizard42 ,

Poison the data as often as possible. I’m getting kicked off more and more services because my data doesn’t match their fingerprinting. I don’t verify any identity. Even the private databases with addresses, cars, employers, etc are all filled with random junk data making them useless. I can’t “pass verification” because the source is stupid. I take that as a small win.

Biggest part was getting tf out of that shithole country. Life is much better now.

intensely_human ,

I feel about it the way I feel about the weather. I don’t think it’s realistic to live under a government that has the ability to exert some form of power, then have that government not exert that form of power.

Mostly I’m just hoping to be reincarnated during the next major outward expansion. During the current phase of history the individual is just a unit to be used by this or that collective.

It sucks, but so does being allergic to milk. Don’t have much choice about either one.

Delusional ,

There’s literally nothing we can do. Those in power will always abuse their power eventually and now with modern tech, they abuse that too. Yeah there is really no reason for it and it sucks but they just do it because they fucking can. I’ve had my fill of power tripping assholes who don’t deserve it.

JimmyBigSausage ,

We love it!!! Ahhhh

Carrolade ,

Not a big fan.

Frankly though I think Snowden gets way too much credit. Anyone with any sense that looked at the Patriot Act knew what was going to happen, and people were raising alarm from the beginning. He just confirmed what already should have been very obvious.

intensely_human ,

Yes. Anyone over the age of like 12 who didn’t know the government was keeping all this data, was incredibly naive.

Carighan ,
@Carighan@lemmy.world avatar

Every search you make, email you send, text message, voice chat, location, and most likely the conversations you have in your own home are monitored and stored in a database for whoever knows how long (probably forever).

This is most likely incidental.

As in, to successfully show text messages to people, somewhere at the ISP, someone has to have a database that shows what messages were sent off from which tower and need to be routed where. Maybe they’re retained for a while for re-send reasons, too. Yeah.

But the point is, that’s not the same reason why your home address is retained at the motor license department.

We humans love to see patterns in things, but we do so even when none exist, as our brains want to desperately simplify information to save space, essentially. But we should not let that fool us into thinking the world is simpler than it actually is: We have a host of reasons to retain data, and this existed long, long, loooong before digital databases. And for good reason. After all, if it cannot be verified that you are you in context X, the state can hardly offer you service Y or protection Z (such as those are in the US in particular, granted).

Your city has to know who you are and where you live. Your motor dep needs to know which license belongs to whom and is attached to which vehicle. Amazon needs to know where to send your parcels. Your phone provider needs to know which phone belongs to which number in their network and where it is right now. Etc, etc, etc. They all do so for individual reasons.

gerryflap ,
@gerryflap@feddit.nl avatar

Not American, but I think most other people will be in their database as well. Honestly, it frustrated me greatly, but ultimately I try not to worry too much about it since I can’t control it. Privacy is one of my main “pillars” when voting (here in the Netherlands we have way more than 2 choices). A party’s stance on privacy and encryption is a requirement for gaining my vote, and it’s lead me to not vote for someone in multiple occasions. It’s the most influence I can have.

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

I feel I overestimate such people who only take heed to alphanumericals and not what one might call backdoor communication. Case in point.

https://lemm.ee/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Flemmy.world%2Fpictrs%2Fimage%2Ffd568a88-803c-4128-8696-067b83f36a4c.png

toototabon ,
@toototabon@lemmy.ml avatar

how is the image related?

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

It’s an example/jab/whatever you want to call it at the fact only certain communications matter to those who “are said to eavesdrop… but at face value” which is relevant to the people described. Imagine a message existing in any picture that uses shades and it’s beyond them and the original inquiry still comes up.

xilona ,

what does this mean mate? have you read to much 50 shades of gray or please tell me what should I get out of your comment… Thanks!

shinigamiookamiryuu ,

I’ll respond by saying what you say kind of proves my point. The sky is the limit when it comes to communication, it never was any different, but the stereotype with the NSA is that they sit down and think “alright, let’s see what this person has said today” while taking it at face value. The picture is a sort of example/jab at that stereotype. If I were to communicate in a way the NSA would call “covertly”, it would be beyond them, I would be “hiding in plain sight”.

Bitrot ,

Not a fan of government or corporate surveillance.

My concern is mostly about whoever holds the keys in the long run. They collect it all today, hold it forever, who knows what regime comes to power in the next decades and uses that information for targeting.

xilona ,

we are so close …

and a lot of so call communists on lemmy ease their way to that direction without ever lived in a real communist regime… but they make a lot of noise and love downvoting here… just watch them…

Bitrot ,

I think we’re more likely to have a Christofascist regime than a communist one anytime soon, but such a data hoard is going to be dangerously abused in any authoritarian environment.

Etterra ,

It’s not like my opinion will make any actual difference, so I’ve made my piece with it.

scott ,
@scott@lem.free.as avatar

*peace

Etterra ,

Thanks. I got autocowrecked.

AVincentInSpace ,

Europeans go 10 minutes without talking about how terrible the US is challenge (impossible)

Hugh_Jeggs ,

We do it far more about our own countries too but vous ne vous en rendez pas compte, car vous ne parlez que l’anglais

Nemo ,

I’m actually trilingual, but whatever.

Hugh_Jeggs ,

English [Simplified] doesn’t count as a second language 😂

AVincentInSpace ,

…is this the part where I remind you that what we now think of as a British accent and British spellings were added by the British after the American colonies declared independence, and we kept the old way while British scholars were talking about how the word “color” didn’t look French enough without a U, or are you just here to troll

Hugh_Jeggs , (edited )

Going to need a sauce on that. Keep the high fructose corn syrup to a minimum, there’s a good chap

Edit - I take it you couldn’t find a source that wasn’t made up by some intern to fill a couple of column inches then? Like the “Modern American accent is closer to original English than English is now”. The source of that “fact” being the pronunciation of one word. By some people in Brooklyn 😂

Nemo ,

TBF, classical Latin probably doesn’t either. Busted!

Hugh_Jeggs ,

I can understand a couple of loons from Aberdeen but apparently that doesn’t count either ffs

EinfachUnersetzlich ,

It is pretty bad though.

Wahots ,
@Wahots@pawb.social avatar

I just wish they could fucking do it for my goddamned healthcare data. Switching states, practices, getting your full history of vaccines from a dusty file cabinet 24 years ago at a pediatric clinic…not a goddamned SQL table in sight. Wait days, fax everything, someone in the chain never makes the transfer, and you have to get it to your doctor and possibly multiple medical insurance agencies multiple times.

Oh, and literally everything running on different DBs at hospitals, when they use them. Even if it’s the same company running DBs for different hospital networks.

Same thing for moving states/addresses/voting/mail/licenses. No DBs. The only consolation is that apparently Canada is similarly fucked up and also doesn’t have a country-wide health DB, haha. So painful.

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