John Stossel - Pipe down, NSA is stopping terrorists from hurting us.
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kcchiefs6465
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What's the difference if google intercepts your email compared to them giving the NSA direct access to their servers?
JCDenton0451
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Are you reffering to gmail accounts? Don't use gmail accounts.
donnay
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I just want to pass along this info:
Giant US government Internet spying scandal revealed
The Washington Post and The Guardian have revealed a US government mass Internet surveillance program code-named "PRISM". They report that the NSA and the FBI have been tapping directly into the servers of nine US service providers, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, YouTube, AOL and Skype, and began this surveillance program at least seven years ago. (clarifying slides)
These revelations are shaking up an international debate.
StartPage has always been very outspoken when it comes to protecting people's privacy and civil liberties. So it won't surprise you that we are a strong opponent of overreaching, unaccountable spy programs like PRISM. In the past, even government surveillance programs that were begun with good intentions have become tools for abuse, for example tracking civil rights and anti-war protesters.
Programs like PRISM undermine our Privacy, disrupt faith in governments, and are a danger to the free Internet.
StartPage and its sister search engine Ixquick have in their 14-year history never provided a single byte of user data to the US government, or any other government or agency. Not under PRISM, nor under any other program in the US, nor under any program anywhere in the world. We are not like Yahoo, Facebook, Google, Apple, Skype, or the other US companies who got caught up in the web of PRISM surveillance.
Here's how we are different:
•StartPage does not store any user data. We make this perfectly clear to everyone, including any governmental agencies. We do not record the IP addresses of our users and we don't use tracking cookies, so there is literally no data about you on our servers to access. Since we don't even know who our customers are, we can't share anything with Big Brother. In fact, we've never gotten even a single request from a governmental authority to supply user data in the fourteen years we've been in business.
•StartPage uses encryption (HTTPS) by default. Encryption prevents snooping. Your searches are encrypted, so others can't "tap" the Internet connection to snoop what you're searching for. This combination of not storing data together with using strong encryption for the connections is key in protecting your Privacy.
•Our company is based in The Netherlands, Europe. US jurisdiction does not apply to us, at least not directly. Any request or demand from ANY government (including the US) to deliver user data, will be thoroughly checked by our lawyers, and we will not comply unless the law which actually applies to us would undeniably require it from us. And even in that hypothetical situation, we refer to our first point; we don't even have any user data to give. We will never cooperate with voluntary spying programs like PRISM.
•StartPage cannot be forced to start spying. Given the strong protection of the Right to Privacy in Europe , European governments cannot just start forcing service providers like us to implement a blanket spying program on their users. And if that ever changed, we would fight this to the end.
Privacy.
It's not just our policy - it's our business.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are working hard to offer you an encrypted email service later this year called StartMail. We have to stand up and protect our freedoms from increasing overreach from data gatherers. You've made the right choice by using StartPage.com. Now is the time to tell others!
Sincerely,
Robert E.G. Beens
CEO StartPage.com and Ixquick.com
Source:
https://www.startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html
They release their new private email system at the end of June.
BETA TESTER
Sign up to become a Startpage Email Beta Tester.
https://startmail.com/
Giant US government Internet spying scandal revealed
The Washington Post and The Guardian have revealed a US government mass Internet surveillance program code-named "PRISM". They report that the NSA and the FBI have been tapping directly into the servers of nine US service providers, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, YouTube, AOL and Skype, and began this surveillance program at least seven years ago. (clarifying slides)
These revelations are shaking up an international debate.
StartPage has always been very outspoken when it comes to protecting people's privacy and civil liberties. So it won't surprise you that we are a strong opponent of overreaching, unaccountable spy programs like PRISM. In the past, even government surveillance programs that were begun with good intentions have become tools for abuse, for example tracking civil rights and anti-war protesters.
Programs like PRISM undermine our Privacy, disrupt faith in governments, and are a danger to the free Internet.
StartPage and its sister search engine Ixquick have in their 14-year history never provided a single byte of user data to the US government, or any other government or agency. Not under PRISM, nor under any other program in the US, nor under any program anywhere in the world. We are not like Yahoo, Facebook, Google, Apple, Skype, or the other US companies who got caught up in the web of PRISM surveillance.
Here's how we are different:
•StartPage does not store any user data. We make this perfectly clear to everyone, including any governmental agencies. We do not record the IP addresses of our users and we don't use tracking cookies, so there is literally no data about you on our servers to access. Since we don't even know who our customers are, we can't share anything with Big Brother. In fact, we've never gotten even a single request from a governmental authority to supply user data in the fourteen years we've been in business.
•StartPage uses encryption (HTTPS) by default. Encryption prevents snooping. Your searches are encrypted, so others can't "tap" the Internet connection to snoop what you're searching for. This combination of not storing data together with using strong encryption for the connections is key in protecting your Privacy.
•Our company is based in The Netherlands, Europe. US jurisdiction does not apply to us, at least not directly. Any request or demand from ANY government (including the US) to deliver user data, will be thoroughly checked by our lawyers, and we will not comply unless the law which actually applies to us would undeniably require it from us. And even in that hypothetical situation, we refer to our first point; we don't even have any user data to give. We will never cooperate with voluntary spying programs like PRISM.
•StartPage cannot be forced to start spying. Given the strong protection of the Right to Privacy in Europe , European governments cannot just start forcing service providers like us to implement a blanket spying program on their users. And if that ever changed, we would fight this to the end.
Privacy.
It's not just our policy - it's our business.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are working hard to offer you an encrypted email service later this year called StartMail. We have to stand up and protect our freedoms from increasing overreach from data gatherers. You've made the right choice by using StartPage.com. Now is the time to tell others!
Sincerely,
Robert E.G. Beens
CEO StartPage.com and Ixquick.com
Source:
https://www.startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html
They release their new private email system at the end of June.
BETA TESTER
Sign up to become a Startpage Email Beta Tester.
https://startmail.com/
If you think that a certain company is spying on you and invading your privacy, then don't do business with them. It's that simple. A private company can't force you to do business with them. If you don't like a company like Google then use a different search engine.
Bastiat's The Law
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Stossel, for all his good qualities, still gets schooled by Bill O'Reilly on foreign policy every time they debate so what do you expect? Not the sharpest libertarian knife in the drawer.
Anti Federalist
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And when all of them are in collusion with government to spy on me?
But honestly, isn't that what I just said?
Antischism
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Came in expecting a sarcastic article, left disappointed.
compromise
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A private business cannot use force so doesn't really have that much use for spying, other than advertising. The government does. Private/government collusion isn't so much a problem either, as some businesses do not support the government surveillance as it deters customers - it's more a one-sided approach. The problem still fundamentally remains the government. I don't believe socialism is the lesser of two evils when the alternative is corporatism, although I know many on here do.
As for the Kinect, nobody is even forcing you to buy a Kinect. And we are nowhere near the point at which the government is going to start forcing people to buy Kinects.
Some people on here (including many of those who claim to be hardcore libertarians) are of the progressive mentality that we can have our cake and eat it, i.e. both use these products and still have full "privacy rights" from the company. Same thing with GMO labeling, there was a guy in the other thread that supported GMO labeling because he didn't want to switch from Hellmann's mayo to a verified GMO-free brand.
Well then we should advocate ending the government collusion. I'm just not in favor of actually having the government prevent companies from spying on its customers. I'm not saying you support that either; I'm just making clear what my position is.
Anti Federalist
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Yeah, well I'm not.
JCDenton0451
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They're not 'in collusion' with the government. The government simply has them by the balls. Don't you understand? The government really is the problem.
Anti Federalist
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Hmmm?
Mine companies, car companies, steel companies, oil companies just to name a few, have used "private" security firms to bust heads and enforce compliance in "company towns".
Shit, the only reason we have "police" in the modern sense of the word, is because of a private company that started the idea.
Go read up on the history of Pinkerton's "private" cops and detectives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinkerton_Government_Services
VBRonPaulFan
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What a disappointing article. His basic argument is that he gives tons of information to companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc already - so the NSA getting it is no big deal.
Hey dipshit, a lot of us don't willing give out any personal information to those companies, so the NSA mining is definitely a serious breach of our privacy! Not to mention that my calls, emails, etc are none of their fucking business.
Unless Stossel has no problem with me personally going through all of his call logs, medical records, bank statements, emails, and anything else i want - he's a goddamn hypocrite.
Hey dipshit, a lot of us don't willing give out any personal information to those companies, so the NSA mining is definitely a serious breach of our privacy! Not to mention that my calls, emails, etc are none of their fucking business.
Unless Stossel has no problem with me personally going through all of his call logs, medical records, bank statements, emails, and anything else i want - he's a goddamn hypocrite.
VBRonPaulFan
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Except when companies are able to do it essentially secretly without you realizing it. Most people have absolutely NO idea the amount of data that companies can scrape from you by just hitting their page once (if you allow it). This has been a long time argument for many on the web. It can be hard to strike a balance between usability, functionality, and privacy.
http://lifehacker.com/5887140/every...what-you-do-on-the-web-heres-how-to-stop-them
I don't understand why Stossel can't multi-task and object to the Government violating his rights in many different ways at the same time.Am I supposed to stop objecting to second amendment violations to concentrate my limited brain power on fourth or fifth or tenth amendment violations?
I have no problem with private companies using info I provide them to provide me with services,as long as it is a voluntary transaction and I can turn it on or off and the Government can't get any of it without a signed and sworn warrant.In fact,I think they're wonderful.
Take location(GPS)based services,for instance.I can be in a city I have never been to in my life and get turn by turn directions to any sort of place or business I might want or need to find and all in a female Irish or Australian accent,if that is my pleasure.Or check what amenities are available at an offramp 100 miles up the road and what the traffic is like between here and there.And on and on and on.
I have no problem with private companies using info I provide them to provide me with services,as long as it is a voluntary transaction and I can turn it on or off and the Government can't get any of it without a signed and sworn warrant.In fact,I think they're wonderful.
Take location(GPS)based services,for instance.I can be in a city I have never been to in my life and get turn by turn directions to any sort of place or business I might want or need to find and all in a female Irish or Australian accent,if that is my pleasure.Or check what amenities are available at an offramp 100 miles up the road and what the traffic is like between here and there.And on and on and on.
Anti Federalist
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Owned by government.
Thus government can dictate how it's system, and the data it produces, is used.
As are roads and highways and interstates.
May the government dictate that the fourth amendment doesn't apply there?Or the second?
Anti Federalist
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They'll sure try.
Which is why I'm opposed to private roads.
See, once the GPS data passes through "private" hands, then they claim there are no more Fourth Amendment protections.
Which, in the case of both GPS and roads, you have no other alternative but to use the one source that is there.
(I think only one source...Russian GLONASS went tits up, didn't it?)
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