At the last of his term, Obama removed the filtering of the NSA, and allowed all intelligence agencies access to raw intelligence, without any vetting by the agency with the responsibility for preventing the data to be misused, or leaked by those without the clearance.
While I've been suspicious of the NSA, at least the information was bottled up tighter than it now is. Private information collected without warrants was not available to just about anyone in law enforcement. Now, not only are private citizens at risk, government employees, with loyalties to others - or being paid to spy by anyone without the U.S. interests at hear - can subvert operations, slant the news with illegal leaks to unscrupulous media outlets, and the ability of the government to function is reduced due to the tedious effort to plug the leads.
Personally, I think the courts will be too slow to solve this problem, and the same goes for investigations. This slowness will infuriate some with not only a strong loyalty to the United States, they'll have the power of neanderthal retaliation on those caught misusing classified information.
For those willing to take such chances in the future, I advise you to realize all the money in the world won't hide you from those with the power, and resources, to find you. If you're lucky, you'll be prosecuted, but I'm betting some of those coming for you won't be willing to take the time.
I recently heard a former East German describe how the Stasi isolated his name out of all East Germans by a handful of clues.
ReplyDeleteNo internet.
all I know is that if some foreign lady rubs a wet cloth on my face in an airport concourse somewhere... I will do a 20-minute bucket list.
ReplyDeleteAt one time, it was far easier to escape from those willing to find you. In a way it's frightening; in another, it creates an environment where responsibility demands integrity.
ReplyDelete