eek
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4662280.stm
Now I'm a good girl, mostly; but the thought that governments might want to record what I search for on google et al is just plain terrifying!
I don't know if it's urban legend or not, but in my "scouting" days, I was told that there is a "blacklist" of books in public libraries, which are left as bait for prospective bombmakers etc etc. If you got out more than 2 of these books - so I was told - then you were automatically put on a list somewhere, trailed for a year or so and had your bank transactions monitored. Okay so the last bit *might* be an exagerration, but still...
Thing is, it *is* scary to be monitored - but it's also reassuring, and probably in a completely self-delusional way. I mean, ifI were really into bombs and stuff (and I'm not. Last bomb I made was an origami water bomb, when I was about 9. Now *that* was fun hehe), I'm fairly certain I'd buy all my books second hand, using an alias, and I sure as heck wouldn't use my personal internet connection *if* I went surfing. But, short of having James Bond types for every, I dunno, 100 in the population, I don't see what else the intelligence services are supposed to do. That's one James Bond *per* intelligence service, per 100. Which is probably about 80 James Bond types for every 20 Pussy Galores. Way-hey!
Oops, my brain just ran out of intelligent thought.
Now I'm a good girl, mostly; but the thought that governments might want to record what I search for on google et al is just plain terrifying!
I don't know if it's urban legend or not, but in my "scouting" days, I was told that there is a "blacklist" of books in public libraries, which are left as bait for prospective bombmakers etc etc. If you got out more than 2 of these books - so I was told - then you were automatically put on a list somewhere, trailed for a year or so and had your bank transactions monitored. Okay so the last bit *might* be an exagerration, but still...
Thing is, it *is* scary to be monitored - but it's also reassuring, and probably in a completely self-delusional way. I mean, ifI were really into bombs and stuff (and I'm not. Last bomb I made was an origami water bomb, when I was about 9. Now *that* was fun hehe), I'm fairly certain I'd buy all my books second hand, using an alias, and I sure as heck wouldn't use my personal internet connection *if* I went surfing. But, short of having James Bond types for every, I dunno, 100 in the population, I don't see what else the intelligence services are supposed to do. That's one James Bond *per* intelligence service, per 100. Which is probably about 80 James Bond types for every 20 Pussy Galores. Way-hey!
Oops, my brain just ran out of intelligent thought.
3 Comments:
It occurs to me that more likely triggers are searches like "secret underground tunnels into the middle of the pentagon where I can pland tracking devices and take over the world!! *evil cackle"... and that being so, the most likely people to search for such things are not, I would have thought, evil masterminds, but journalists and aspiring authors.
Now, I've no immediate interest in writing espionage plots, but if I ever do, I sure as heck don't want MI5 or whomever knocking at my door.
Therefore I'm toying with either a) starting a campaign where *everyone in the entire world* has to search for underground tunnels, at least once a week, or b) running scared
*You're* running scared?
Writing Merlin's Price will probably get me arrested, LOL
vaguely related:
reporters sans frontiers
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=433
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