The Bush administration has accelerated its Internet surveillance push by proposing that Web sites must keep records of who uploads photographs or videos in case police determine the content is illegal and choose to investigate. — Declan McCullagh, CNET News.
::jaw on ground:: I really hope Declan is wrong on this report because if he’s not, we’re in deep shit. Can you even imagine what this would mean for civil liberties and freedom of speech? This data retention idea is on par with the China policy. ::eyes wide open::
My favorite part of the article is:
Only universities and libraries would be excluded, one participant said. “There’s a PR concern with including the libraries, so we’re not going to include them,” the participant quoted the Justice Department as saying. “We know we’re going to get a pushback, so we’re not going to do that.”
No shit you’d get a pushback. And yet this is the same government that wants to require that all schools and libraries block all content-sharing sites for minors. Put together, there’d be very little in the way of sharing.
Does anyone know if this is real? Links for more information?
(Tx Xeni)
Also, There is a movement to charge 1 cent per email. Quickly write a letter to your congress(wo)man telling them that this is 1999 and we won’t stand for such tyranny.
Arian – that has been a known urban legend for a long time. I would love to think that this is just a hoax too, but given the status of DOPA, i kinda doubt it which is why i blogged it.
All the answers to your questions are in Declan’s article or links from his article. AG Gonzales has made it clear that increased data retention is a priority for him and the Bush administration. There is a bill that has been introduced that would accomplish this (thank gods that it’s a Dem-controlled Hill right now). best, Joe
The problem already exists when companies retain things voluntarily. I was very upset when I couldn’t permanently delete my Facebook profile. This made delicious: http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/
I hope this doesn’t serve as an indication of things to come for other countries (especially here in the UK) – just think of all those digital breadcrumbs sitting on a database somewhere…
DK
It’s not as if anyone who has something he or she wants hidden is already in deep crap. Anyone with enough time on their hands can easily dig up most of someone’s digital past on Google. But that’s all stuff that has been publicized in some fashion. A lot of this would be private, sensitive data. Plus, it’s not clear at all how the data would be obtained. Would there be some secret court to get permission to look through records, as there is for wiretapping?
So……… would this be limited to only monitoring American uploaders/subscribers content or would it be across the board? I post on flickr does that mean that my personal info is going to be recorded for posterity too? I live in South Africa
Isn’t this stuff already traceable? This week, I read about how a boy “on the run” was caught after posting a video on YouTube. The cops saw it, and tracked him down.
Personally, I’m over the whole UGC video craze. I want to see high-quality programming made by people who know what they’re doing. Most of the videos on YouTube are crappy and not worth watching. And now, this garbage is clogging up my tv.
Blogs are enough UGC for me. I can make my own home videos.
In 5 to 10 years we won’t be uploading images.