> What I find disturbing about these tools is that they are far more suited to retrospective analysis, and therefore to discovering dirt on ordinary people and undermining the rule of law,
Aha yes. Access this kind of system would be Stalin's or any other brutal dictator's wet dream. This is what they'd get a hard on thinking about. "Oh, I wish I had a system where everyone would input their hobbies, interests, connections, all they messages (Facebook, GMail, Skype, etc) and then I would be able to read and access those things, all the phone calls, shopping habits, text messages, what kind of porn they like, who they like to joke about, what they eat,...mmm". Well guess what we have that here and now.
Retrospective analysis is the key here. I have mentioned in the past how the formula for a successful brutal dictatorship is this:
1) Complicated, ambiguous and broad laws (disobedience, being suspicious, obstruction of justice, obstruction of business, disorderly conduct, etc etc)
2) Total monitoring and control & archiving
Just those 2) are enough. With enough background material to scare anyone with jail, a criminal record, disclosure of shameful information ("I see you like foot fetishes, how would you like if your church friends found out about that?... Are you sure you should keep participating in this Occupy movement, think twice about it...") they can control and manipulate anyone.
Aha yes. Access this kind of system would be Stalin's or any other brutal dictator's wet dream. This is what they'd get a hard on thinking about. "Oh, I wish I had a system where everyone would input their hobbies, interests, connections, all they messages (Facebook, GMail, Skype, etc) and then I would be able to read and access those things, all the phone calls, shopping habits, text messages, what kind of porn they like, who they like to joke about, what they eat,...mmm". Well guess what we have that here and now.
Retrospective analysis is the key here. I have mentioned in the past how the formula for a successful brutal dictatorship is this:
1) Complicated, ambiguous and broad laws (disobedience, being suspicious, obstruction of justice, obstruction of business, disorderly conduct, etc etc)
2) Total monitoring and control & archiving
Just those 2) are enough. With enough background material to scare anyone with jail, a criminal record, disclosure of shameful information ("I see you like foot fetishes, how would you like if your church friends found out about that?... Are you sure you should keep participating in this Occupy movement, think twice about it...") they can control and manipulate anyone.