Friday, October 02, 2015

Government Fuckups

Giving bureaucrats the budget & freedom to compile "Total Information Awareness" is stupid and shortsighted. More scandals, blackmail and corruption are ahead.

They spy around the world, and also on our own communities. Because they can never keep a huge data collection both useful and secure, we are less secure.

The Washington Post published a story highlighting this spying foolishness (29 September, link) full of unattributed comments by U.S. officials, and where "The CIA declined to comment."

>> That menacing article itself has an oddly long address:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-pulled-officers-from-beijing-after-breach-of-federal-personnel-records/2015/09/29/1f78943c-66d1-11e5-9ef3-fde182507eac_story.html

Today the story was picked up by the BBC (link): data breaches earlier this year in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) put America's spy networks at grave risk.

Details of professional intelligence officers were reportedly not kept with the stolen files of regular government employees. Seems smart, but surrendering the details of normal workers highlights who is abnormal.

Of course, the CIA may not be so dumb - in fact creating jackets with false details for essential undercover staff. To withdraw & sacrifice some personnel builds enemy complacency.

Overall, one thing's clear: the enemy's us.
Bureaucrats & politicos will reliably fuck up.
All of us depending on data are at greater risk from their foolishness.