Say NO to Big Bro!
By Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
SciFi is getting real!
U.N. expert talks about halting military robot development. Sounds like I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. A woolly mammoth found with liquid blood sounds like Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. Supreme Court denies farmer right to grow patented soybeans seeds sounds like Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison, which became the classic movie Soylent Green.
And, all the recent headlines about government surveillance of American phones and internet usage sounds like 1984 by George Orwell.
After the news broke that the American Government had targeted specific reporters of the Associated Press, I started a discussion about privacy rights to my librarian groups on LinkedIn and Twitter. Granted, I am new to the social media scene, and have not yet hundreds of followers, but NO ONE responded! NO LIBRARIANS RESPONDED!
Countless headlines have since revealed rampant government surveillance of American phone and internet records. Where are all the librarians who were initially so anti-Patriot Act? The ALA did release a cursory press release to reiterate its condemnation of the Patriot Act:
ALA repeats its call for a true public dialogue on our nation’s surveillance laws and procedures… The public needs a way to become engaged to determine what degree of public accountability is needed and how to improve the balance between individual rights and the need of government to investigate terrorism and other harmful acts.
Duh!
Librarians are supposed to adhere to a code of ethics which includes upholding the principles of intellectual freedom and protecting users’ right to privacy and confidentiality. So, if you’re a librarian who believes in free access to information, like, say, on the internet, you SHOULD be outraged and outspoken about this topic.
Here’s another way to think about the harm of active, pervasive American surveillance. Consider this post by David Kirkpatrick, which points out lots of non-U.S. Citizens who use FB to vent about their country will now be less likely to do so.
Because Facebook gives users a broadcast tool to send messages to their friends, it is routinely the tool ordinary people use when they are dissatisfied or seek to make a political statement. This is true in almost every country on earth.
It’s quite possible that Obama has undermined the effectiveness and attractiveness for political speech and protest of what have been the most potent communications tools for activism in history. Political and commercial opponents of the U.S. in every country, as well as governments themselves, will likely alert citizens to the potential that U.S. companies could pass their info back to U.S. authorities. This will seriously conflict with these companies’ aim to maintain their platforms as neutral global environments. It could dramatically slow their global growth.
Unfortunately, too many of us are content to give up civil liberties and privacy in the name of security. As of this moment, the “Nothing to Hide” hash tag on Twitter has over 1,100 followers and posts. A recent Washington Post poll discovers that people consider NSA tracking of phone records “acceptable.”
It’s easy to not mind government surveillance when you’re going about what should be considered your own business, e.g., talking with your sister about a boyfriend or posting a photo of the baby to Facebook. Currently, there may be no reason to fear illegal search and seizure of our collected metadata. Even if you happen to be calling to arrange for a prostitute or to make a drug deal, there are checks and balances in place that prevent gov’t surveyors from distributing the info to authorities who will use it to prosecute you.
Keep in mind, however, that no one knows how long this private metadata is stored. And if government has the capability to listen and watch without our knowledge and consent, the question is what will happen in the future?
The Big Brother government Orwell wrote about in 1984 wasn’t created in a day. It evolved over time. Designed to “protect” citizens, Big Brother then BECAME an intrusive government that prevented freedom of thought. If you read the book, you know what happened to people who entertained ideas Big Bro didn’t approve of. You know also know that the IRS denying conservative groups 503c nonprofit status is NON fiction, right? You know that cyber-attacks to US systems are NON fiction, right?
What might happen if a non-American government, a less democratic government, or private corporations had access to our personal records? Would we be denied health care because we smoke a pipe or eat too much red meat? Would we be prohibited from getting a home loan because we belong to some group the bank doesn’t approve of?
Political leaders say there is a need for the government to foil terrorist attacks by keeping US Citizens in the dark about how surveillance is done. In defense of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senator Feinstein was quoted as saying, “It’s called protecting America.” Here’s an interesting tidbit, the Patriot Act was reauthorized in 2009. The revised version was NOT approved by the ALA, (read the reauthorization history) and was called the “Feinstein” bill. Senator Feinstein is now an Intelligence Committee Chair.
I must remind my own Senator that security in a technologically-advanced, globalized, post-911 world is a fantasy.
To those who shrug their shoulders at the surveillance headlines, I want to say WAKE UP! Privacy, civil liberty, freedom is worth preserving and fighting for. Our country can never be totally secure. If you’re willing to exchange civil liberties for the illusion of safety, here’s one last thought. Dean Alfange once wrote the following words as part of what he called An American Creed:
“I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations, and to face the world boldly and say, this I have done. All this is what it means to be an American.”
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat!!!
Don’t let terrorists win. Contact your representative . Contact your senator, (especially if it’s Feinstein). Tell them, “Security is an illusion. I choose freedom. Stop surveillance now!”
I don’t see it as 100% one direction or the other. When I worked overseas there was racial tension at an American Army post between African American and Caucasian soldiers. A group of African American soldiers came to the library looking for books on building explosive devices. Some of them had been involved in a dining facility brawl a few days before. Do I keep my mouth shut and have it on my conscience if a building is blown up and some of our soldiers are killed? I chose to report their inquiry although I knew it was against librarian ethical code. The soldiers were transfered to other posts where they were less likely to act as a group against another group. I don’t like the Patriot Act and was upset when it first became law but I’m not totally against what the NSA is trying to do. Perhaps as some say, targeting suspects needs to be refined to be more effective.
Wow, Jane, thought-provoking points! How did you know the soldiers that came to the library were the ones involved in the brawl? I would hope that I would have the courage to do the same, i.e., protect people and bring bad guys to justice.
When the Patriot Act first came out, I didn’t think it was any big deal, especially because it was originally set up to expire. However, since its “renewal”, government has ballooned. There now seems to be no true accountability of where the surveillance begins and ends. Citizens can’t prove that they’re being watched or targeted because everything is classified. There seems to be no particular remorse on the part of U.S. gov’t for taking a nibble out of civil liberties, which I find alarming! Do we really think they’re ONLY tracking phone numbers and internet sites versus the CONTENT?
Considering that Russia warned us about the Boston Bombers and they were, in fact, on welfare, I agree that targeting specific subjects… or maybe tracking and using records that are already in place, might get better results!