You are completely ignoring the singularly unique aspect of digital communications which enables unprecedented new powers, period:
Storage. History. Digital communications like email are stored, and can be stored FOREVER... with just a flip of a switch, a word, an order, a warrant...
One does not have a pile of previous analog telephone calls just waiting to be scooped up and analyzed retro-actively
Anyone can see that if I can run all your data backwards through retro-actively invented filters, I have a power that has no parallel in the analog world:
For example: they didn't stop the Boston Bombers, so they change the algorithms until when they run everything again, it lines up.
This is seriously scary stuff, and it's a double-edged sword. I feel that it goes too far in giving power to these wanna-be-omniscient agents.
I'm not comfortable having ANY human omniscient agents.
I don't give a rat's behind how "noble" or "sacred" their mission statement is... bad people will abuse such powers and they already are doing so...
Storage. History. Digital communications like email are stored, and can be stored FOREVER... with just a flip of a switch, a word, an order, a warrant...
One does not have a pile of previous analog telephone calls just waiting to be scooped up and analyzed retro-actively
Anyone can see that if I can run all your data backwards through retro-actively invented filters, I have a power that has no parallel in the analog world: For example: they didn't stop the Boston Bombers, so they change the algorithms until when they run everything again, it lines up.
This is seriously scary stuff, and it's a double-edged sword. I feel that it goes too far in giving power to these wanna-be-omniscient agents.
I'm not comfortable having ANY human omniscient agents. I don't give a rat's behind how "noble" or "sacred" their mission statement is... bad people will abuse such powers and they already are doing so...