2008-09-25 03:46:43 - Being spied on is the new reality for every individual person who uses the Internet, or banks. Governments can be counted on to know everything about us in this Age of Information.

Jewel Versus NSA

A logo, which was drawn for Electronic Frontier Foundation, reveals what is happening in a court in America, where Jewel versus NSA. EFF, formed in 1990 by a group of concerned citizens, is calling for those who authorized, or participated in a fishing expedition to be held accountable. A warrantless dragnet surveillance was used, where millions of

ordinary Americans' emails were placed under surveillance. An ex-employee has disclosed the presence of a secret room in San Francisco, controlled by NSA. Copies of communications and communication records of all Internet Traffic are sent there to be scrutinized. The long, high profile prosecution list includes President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Chief of Staff David Addington, former Attorney General and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and others, as well as NSA. Though strongly denying the existence of the dragnet, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey asked a Federal Just that communication companies be granted immunity to any charges of spying. Congress passed a bill for this earlier in the year.

European Bank Scandal

In February a CD was sold to the German intelligence Service, be an ex-employee of a Lichenstein bank. The CD contained the account details of foreigners holding foundation accounts in the bank. The German government, headed by the 'Iron Lady' Angela Merkle, paid between $6 - $7.3 million for the stolen information, hoping they would recover hundreds of million dollars of lost tax revenue. The list involved names of Canadians, Americans, Australians, Spaniards, French, Italians, New Zealander, Finns and Swedes. These names were turned over to their respective governments, allegedly for undisclosed amounts. The bank assumes the information was stolen and therefore sold illegally.

Cyber Space Spies

The spying business threatens to shift to a new heights in the information arena. Internet Service Providers have all their users' relationships, conversations, secrets, acts and omissions firmly in their clutches. Mainly because they lacked the tools necessary to spy invasively, ISPs have left the spy business alone. With the recent advances made in eavesdropping technology, ISPs can now spy on people in ways never before tried.

Service Providers are under pressure to sell the secrets of their users to copyright owners and advertisers. From a recent surge of reports, it seems that the ISPs are giving in to the enticement to sell the information. They have been experimenting with new forms of spyware. This could be the start of a storm of unprecedented and insidious ISP surveillance.

No longer are ordinary individuals guaranteed of their privacy. Google alone has the power to scan 1 trillion unique URL's per day. Information and Internet traffic has become one of the world's most sought after and valuable possessions.


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About the Author

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