Big Data, the NSA’s Metadata, the IRS and Paranoia
Posted By CotoBlogzz
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – the recent Washington scandals
from Benghazi to the attacks on the press, to the IRS’ bullying of
conservatives and Christians and most recently the NSA’s Big Data leaks have
managed to unite liberals and conservatives alike. Not to say that everyone is in agreement, but both sides are
debating the balance between individual freedom and security and what happens
when Big Government runs amok.
President Obama has come on the side of the NSA’s Big Data
program, claming that no-one is listening to individual conversations. On the other hand, others such as Senator Rand
Paul are considering filing a class action lawsuit against the federal government for invasion of
privacy.
Whatever side of the issue you are on, I suggest you suspend
your disbelief and listen to politician and Data Activist Malte Spitz’s talk on
Your
phone company is watching, then decide.
Malte Spitz is a German Green politician who was not too worried
when he asked his operator in Germany to share information stored about him.
Multiple unanswered requests and a lawsuit later, Spitz received 35,830 lines
of code -- a detailed, nearly minute-by-minute account of half a year of his
life.
Over the course of six months, they had tracked his
geographical location and what he was doing with his phone more than 35,000
times. Working with the German newspaper Die Zeit, an infographic was created that shows
Spitz's activity across an interactive timeline, combined DT's geolocation data
with information relating to his life as a politician, such as Twitter feeds,
blog entries and website.
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