NSA Wants to Mine Data From Social Networking Sites

Staff / Truthdig Jun 9, 2006 The National Security Agency is funding research into ways to collect personal information from social networking websites like MySpace and Friendster, according to New Scientist magazine. The agency reportedly aims to combine the information with details from banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Authorities Mining More Corporate Data for Personal Information

Staff / Truthdig May 21, 2006 We learn from the Wall Street Journal that banks, Internet service providers and other companies are being besieged by law enforcement authorities who want to pore over their corporate data in hunting for clues in criminal cases. Just another example of how the government is going through personal records. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Will the Real ‘Big Brother’ Please Stand Up…

Staff / Truthdig May 17, 2006 When the government can't legally dig up your medical records, call histories and voter registration information, it turns to the data mining company ChoicePoint--which has sucked up over $1 billion in federal contracts. Do. Not. Miss. this article on how the frightening industry of data mining works. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Judge Orders Google to Turn Over Some Data

Staff / Truthdig Mar 14, 2006 A federal judge says he will require the search engine company to provide the government with some search-query data in connection with the Justice Dept.'s attempts to revive an online child pornography law. It's unclear what kind of and how much data the judge will order turned over. That strange shifting underneath your feet? It's the slippery slope we're all sliding down, toward an Orwellian future. Truthdig's Google expert Mark Malseed has the skinny on the implications of this battle. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The End of the Internet?

Staff / Truthdig Feb 9, 2006 Jeff Chester at The Nation has an eye-opening report on how big telcos are trying to transform the "free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online." | story Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

You’ve Got Jail

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Jan 25, 2006 In case someone in the Justice Department is reading this, let me hasten to explain why I just clicked on the Victoria's Secret online catalog photo featuring a certain "Very Sexy Lace & Mesh Garter Belt." AOL made me do it. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )