Article link: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/edward-snowden-kamila-bendova-surveillance-state/
Continuing with the
topic of antitrust investigations on social media, Edward Snowden has recently released
a new memoir known as Permanent Record. In the past, Snowden has leaked confidential
information from the National Security Agency. In this memoir he discusses STELLARWIND,
a program that is designed to collect every existing piece of electronic
communication and permanently store it all. So in other words, every bit of
personal information that has ever been put on a device is available to the NSA:
your name, your address, every location you have visited, and everyone you have
texted. One thing Snowden points out is that there is no agreement the cell
phone user signs for how much information is shared. He states the following:
“Your
devices are constantly communicating for you whether you want them to or not.
And, unlike the humans you communicate with of your own volition, your devices
don’t withhold private information or use code words in an attempt to be
discreet. They merely ping the nearest cell phone towers with signals that
never lie.”
This quote explains that we have no
control over what is sent to the government. Any data that is on our phones or sent
to other people’s phones will be sent to the cell phone towers and certain
people will in fact have access to this information. And that is the worst
part; people who have detailed, personal conversations over text are essentially
being stalked by the government. So everything you have ever done electronically
is visible. While people think that openness is good for the US citizens and government
since the citizens are innocent, anything the citizens have ever said online can
be accessed by the government. And if that is the case, does America have any
sort of online privacy at all?
