[ExI] The NSA's new data center

[Stefano Vaj]

2012/3/22 Dave Sill <sparge at gmail.com>

> As I said, my primary concern is that this information could be used by
> those who have it to ensure that their power isn't diminished by those who,
> at least theoretically, have the power to do so. I don't have anything to
> hide, but I'm *sure* there are people in Washington who *do*, and I'm also
> sure they're not all as careful as they should be. J. Edgar Hoover
> supposedly had secret files containing embarrassing information about his
> enemies. Imagine what he could have done with access to everyone's mail and
> telephone calls.
>

Yes. But I do not believe in "legal" limitations, which lull the
individuals concerned in an ill-conceived sense of security, and which even
in a best-case scenario only involve the fact that the information
illegally collected cannot be used for evidentiary purposes in court (while
it certainly is for any other purpose).

So, abuse of information is best counteracted upon by not making life
easier for your opponents and by collecting yourself information on them.

On the contrary, legal limitations usually go hand-in-hand with either
asymmetries between "public", procedurally-compliant and private snooping;
or with limitations to self-defence; or both.

-- 
Stefano Vaj
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