privacy – Page 3 – Shortwoman.com

Keep It Simple, Silly.

Alright, so apparently it took tens of thousands of kids showing up all alone in our country, having traveled thousands of miles through incredible obstacles to get us to collectively pay attention to immigration policy for more than 5 minutes. There’s screaming on both sides: they’re kids, many of them little, and they need our protection; they’re here illegally and we need to send them back to their [incredibly impoverished and unsafe] homes as quickly as possible before they bring crime and disease for crying out loud, due process be damned.

Let’s be clear on this. Immigration policy is broken. Further, our current system for asylum and naturalization is so complicated that any solution that does not involve radical simplification is no solution at all. That simplification needs to include a reduced amount of paperwork, written in a way that it can be filled out in some cases without the help of expensive lawyers. That simplification needs to eliminate limits on the numbers of immigrants that can come from specific regions and get work permits — unrealistically low limits that even the Senate knows need to go. Maybe it doesn’t need to be so simple that a little kid can navigate the system, but certainly an adult who knows how to read should be able to get started.

Of course that’s only one piece of the puzzle — the part the most helps the kids right now. In the long term, we as a nation have to stop doing things that increase poverty and gang violence in Central and South America. That will make it safer for other children to stay in their homelands with their families rather than come thousands of miles to a strange land that only offers the faintest hope of a better life.

We also need to remember that children aren’t the only ones who illegally come to the United States because no matter how bad conditions are here, it’s better than at home. Conditions are bad here for undocumented immigrants because the byzantine rules for work permits means they work in low wage, low skill, long hours, sometimes blatantly illegal, non-existent protections for workers jobs — the so-called “Jobs Americans Won’t Do [because we foolishly want minimum wage and a safe workplace]”. The employers who exploit these willing workers (and put law abiding businesses at a competitive disadvantage) must face consequences: fines, inspections, jail for the people who sign off on breaking the law.

This is not a complete solution. However, it’s how we “stop digging the hole” we’re trapped in.

In Closing: “The beatings will continue until morale improves”; the latest attempts to undermine your privacy (and indeed, your access) online, and bonus NSA links; the rich get richer and the poor get poorer yet again; “This isn’t about your health. It’s about control.”; great, because it turns out we’re gonna need some new bridges soon! (I saw a picture of the set-up last week and it’s truly impressive); and Remember Come November. Oh, and vote in the damned primaries so we at least have decent candidates!

Happy Blogiversary, Judicial Edition

So, I’ve been at this 11 years. My second post was about the new Supreme Court rulings of the day, and as such, it’s only fair to bring you a breath of fresh air from the Supremes: the cops can’t just go browsing through your cell phone, even if you’ve just been arrested. In another surprisingly reasonable ruling from a different Federal court, the No Fly list is unconstitutional because there’s no due process involved.

However, a different court ruled that collecting data on the communications of citizens of the world is just fine (I have to wonder if there’s anything the international courts can do). In the meantime, the NSA debate and the resulting fallout continues vigorously. It’s important to remember that our own government isn’t the only government that thinks suspected criminals (and anyone they may talk to) have limited privacy rights.

Still, the idea that we’re all being spied upon is relatively benign compared to what happens if you are actually suspected of any sort of crime. Yes, I do mean any sort, particularly if you happen to be a person of color. Militarization of our police means more SWAT teams, more no-knock warrants, more wondering if the home invader is government sponsored, and make no mistake it also means more dead cops.

In Closing: girls; your money or your life; modern slavery; prudence; someone got paid to find out that a lot of people have no money saved; logical fallacies; help JP out; and Stay Focused.

NSA: Going Away or Here to Stay?

Ok, so the President made his big presentation on NSA reforms today. For your convenience, here’s the actual transcript of what he said. If that’s too wordy for you, here’s a summary with commentary, and the EFF kindly provides a short version. Today I have just a little round-up of what people are saying. And what better way to start a round-up than with another round-up?

Seriously though, from where I sit, it looks like “Meh, better than nothing but it’s still a fig leaf.”

Just a reminder, many of our “elected” officials don’t think we need any reform at all.

In the meantime, more and more information about what the NSA is really up to continues to dribble out. Here we have an official who concedes that they haven’t caught any terrorists, but they might someday so we need to spy on everybody. I am unsure how they plan to catch terrorists if they are too busy learning about Comrade Misfit’s lunch plans and the fact that I’m cooking meatloaf for dinner. You can’t find a needle in a haystack by building bigger haystacks. Although I am told that part of learning to search for something specific involves sifting a lot of data to see what it looks like, that phase should be temporary and shouldn’t involve storing the data forever.

Oh, and I wouldn’t dream of leaving out the thoughts of security guru Bruce Schneier, who thinks that encryption is the key to keeping data private.

It’s time to fight back.

In Closing: maybe real school reform starts with the schedule; black widow; not better off; the last Imperial soldier; pens; even skywriters doodle when they are bored; don’t forget to remind your Congressmice that TPP is a bad idea; make then talk; and no, “fit but fat” isn’t a thing.

Music Monday: Billie Jean

Perhaps the essence of a play in 3-5 minutes is Billie Jean. Paired with an iconic video, it solidified Michael Jackson as an adult pop singer whose color did not matter. And it turns out there was just as much drama in the recording studio as in the actual song:

Oh, one more thing. It’s kind of important. If you don’t like the idea of random people being able to contact you through G+, you’d better read and follow the instructions in this article.

In Closing: the official excuse is to prevent unauthorized export; hero; Pope Francis continues to preach common sense along with lovingkindness and compassion; NSA scandal junkies need to be aware that Bruce Schneier is planning to post an “exploit a day” (yes, he has a working RSS feed); on college; on employment; on the Fed; the Japanese appear to be getting serious about whiskey; and just a little round up of some of the smarter things I’ve seen on other people’s blogs this week.

Music Monday: Christmastime in the City

In Closing: NSA? Sure, I got your random links right here (and why exactly would Snowden take a deal that forces him to shut up?); Muslims; I’m not sure how equal wages equals abortion but then I’m sane; let’s hear it for statistics; friendship; race card; Keystone XL is not only a bad idea, it’s unnecessary; cyberspace robots; and there are moments I miss Seattle.

The NSA Scandal is a Gift that keeps on Giving

So, let’s get started. No particular order here.

The NSA is apparently tracking a lot of information about where people are based on their cell phones. I’m not sure whether this makes it better or worse, but this appears to be a big deal overseas, where Bad Guys might want to follow American ~~spies~~ “case officers.”

More and more people of note are publicly saying that “surveillance” of personal data is wrong, and that would include what the NSA’s been up to. In fact, 8 major American tech companies have asked the Feds to please stop already. Couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that they stand to lose money. Security experts have already said they can no longer trust Intel’s crypto technology, and that means companies that actually need secure data have to migrate off systems that use it — potentially migrate off Intel hardware altogether.

I think the Feds honestly want to catch some terrorists. Even though the job is tough. Even though so far, they’ve had to manufacture terrorists in order to actually catch one. Of course maybe if they stopped playing World Of Warcraft it would be easier.

Despite all this controversy, it looks like the Government wants to do as much as possible to make it look like they are making changes, while in fact changing as little as possible.

Merry Freaking Christmas.

In Closing: Some thoughts on the minimum wage and the wages of workers in general (and lookie here, education turns out not to be a magic bullet); Duhpartment of Research says keeping your body healthy might keep your mind healthy; food lies; shadow inventory is a crock; funny how you have to have money for taxes to matter; the stimulus did work, but not like you can tell; good analogy; about time.

Music Monday: The Old Apartment

Last week I noticed a banner up at an apartment complex reading “Free Turkey.” I thought it was a fine idea. A turkey is a whole lot cheaper than giving $50 off a month’s rent. Further, this can be used as a retention tool for current residents. Give a turkey in exchange for a years lease and you have a chance to update their contract, maybe raise their rent. Plus their lease will be up next year right around the holidays, and who wants to move during the holidays? The banner is even reusable next year.

Better banner than “Now pLeasing.” Leasing pee? If they’re pleasing now, what were they before??

In Closing: last thing we need; on Social Security; a few items on Iran; a follow up; “Common” Core; filibuster; crime, racism, and grammar; a few relatively random items about the internet, privacy, spying, the NSA and FBI, yadda yadda yadda; oatmeal; wrong way; yoga; not a bad idea; TV is dying; and lying presidents.

What does Google know about me?

I’ve been using Google well over a decade now. That’s how I learned that someone skilled and diligent can find out a surprising amount of information about almost anybody. Google therefore has a detailed history of my searches for as long as they actually keep data. This data is potentially available to law enforcement — maybe. It worries me that they might be tailoring search results to give users what are potentially biased links. This might contribute to various ideological “echo chambers” across the nation. Web history can be turned off in Google, and I recommend you use the settings to do so.

I use Gmail. It is very good at filtering spam, I can access it from computers other than my home computer easily, and emails arrive at my phone (more on that in a bit). Just by keeping track of senders and subject lines of emails, Google knows of several places I shop, what mailing lists I am subscribed to, that I receive some emails in Japanese, what sorts of political views and charities I am likely to support, that I have a Twitter account, that I have historically had an interest in real estate, and what colleges I have attended. Remember, they only know more if they are actually reading my email and analyzing it in any way. I’m not as worried as I probably ought to be about this, because my attitude is “Don’t put anything on the internet you wouldn’t read out loud to your mother, your boss, and a judge.” Hi mom!

Thanks to Google Calendar, they also know the rough outline of my schedule and the first names of friends I routinely meet for lunch. Services like Schedulicity are very good at syncing with Google Calendar, so the mothership also knows of certain service providers, how often I see them, and what services they perform for me.

Via Google+, they know of several people with whom I have personal, familial, or professional relationships.

I also use an Android phone. Here’s another way they know oodles about me. It syncs with all those services above, which is horribly convenient since I don’t have to carry a date book or sit at my computer; my phone has my calendar and contact information for people I know, and I can update things on the spot. My phone also has a GPS in it, and can inform me of weather or even how long it will take me to get home. Is this information relayed to the mothership? I must assume it does until proven otherwise. I have a bunch of apps on my phone, of course. The easiest way to get apps onto an Android phone is of course to get them through the Android store. Therefore Google has a very, very good idea what apps I have and am likely to be using, whether they are productivity apps or little time wasters.

If I used Blogger, they would know even more about me and my views!

And this is all information I have handed over more or less willingly. Even if they are not a CIA front, a surveillance minded government would be looking at how to mine that internet gold.

In Closing: I have a whole bunch of health and diet links today; a few random education links too; ok, here’s some NSA and privacy news, special up-is-down edition; Putin; pro-choice and pro-actual-life; that’s kinda what I thought; at least the White House got one thing right; sure sounds like an excuse to write more prescriptions and make more money to me; gravity and evolution are both theories; keep riding your Congressmouse’s butt on this and that; trolled; on wages and poverty; science fiction; snowplow parents; I doubt the Pope gives a hoot about the views of the “liberal media.”

Shhh, Ancient American Secret!

On one hand, enough it known about “America’s Secret Agencies” to devote a special issue of Time to the topic.

On the other hand, enough Americans want to know what the heck is going on that this can be at the checkout stand right next to cover stories about the Kardashians and Prince George. These issues aren’t going away.

In Closing: oh, you know I wouldn’t skip an opportunity to share some really choice NSA, Snowden, and privacy links!; TSA and LAX; Megabus; by the corporations, for the corporations; yeah, maybe an armed Neighborhood Watch isn’t such a good idea; well, he’s a Democrat so obviously the system works [/sarcasm]; prison reform; completely unprepared; food stamps; and the filibuster.

A Scary Halloween Story

You thought it was your imagination, but no. It’s true.

You!

“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

In Closing: enjoying the view; don’t forget that Yellowstone is essentially a giant, flat volcano; organized crime; family tree; I’m willing to take it as a police failure that Target feels it needs it’s own crime lab; reforestation; how does one get electricity into an underground drug tunnel??; Google Glass; deficit; Obamacare; GOP has a problem; sardines; ingenuity; television; and Happy Halloween.