Paranoia Vindicated? Uncle Sam’s Plan to Retain Your Personal Info

This is a great day for the paranoid. Attorney General Eric Holder today approved federal agencies retaining the info they vacuum up on innocent Americans. Your dossier just got thicker. Or perhaps the only real “change” is that the government is admitting what it has long been doing.

From the New York Times article on this:

The guidelines will lengthen to five years — from 180 days — the center’s ability to retain private information about Americans when there is no suspicion that they are tied to terrorism, intelligence officials said. The guidelines are also expected to result in the center making more copies of entire databases and “data-mining them” — using complex algorithms to search for patterns that could indicate a threat — than it currently does.

The changes, described by senior intelligence officials on Thursday, are intended to allow analysts to more quickly identify suspicious people and activities. But they are also likely to set off concerns about Americans’ privacy.

On Twitter @jimbovard

James Bovard

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7 Responses to Paranoia Vindicated? Uncle Sam’s Plan to Retain Your Personal Info

  1. Alpowolf March 23, 2012 at 4:13 pm #

    And they still won’t be able to find their own asses with both hands, a map, and a flashlight, never mind finding any genuine terrorists.

    I guess it’s about time for them to find another slow-witted dupe and talk him into blowing something up, so that they can “catch” him and “prove” that they’re “keeping us safe”.

  2. Jim March 23, 2012 at 4:16 pm #

    My inside sources tell me that the latest terrorist creation will be unveiled on Tuesday or Wednesday. They’re hoping to be lead item on at least 2 out of 3 of the network news programs that night.

  3. Alpowolf March 23, 2012 at 6:28 pm #

    With “ties” to Iran, no doubt. On Fox News this morning they were going on about there being 200 Iranian terrorists in the country, linked up with Mexican drug cartels. All they have to do now is “connect” them to abortion clinics and they’ll have a perfect Neocon trifecta.

  4. Jim March 23, 2012 at 9:44 pm #

    Don’t forget the Etch-a-Sketches. They might use them to destroy Americans’ faith in their political leaders.

  5. Tom Blanton March 24, 2012 at 2:12 pm #

    This sounds like a great service for Americans. Instead of paying some company like Carbonite to backup your data, the government backs up your data for free. Indeed, this is a great day for those paranoid about their hard drive crashing.

    My only concern is that if they think I’m a terrorist, will they still retain my data for 5 years or will they delete it right away?

    I must admit though, Obama is the best President we’ve had since George W. Bush!

  6. Jim March 24, 2012 at 2:17 pm #

    The great thing about Obama is that he has provided a chance for a whole different set of intellectuals to grovel on their bellies while making excuses for the White House.

  7. Jim March 24, 2012 at 2:37 pm #

    The National Security Agency could boost its popularity by offering a free password retrieval to anyone who sent in their DNA sample.