The arguments for surveillance generally are about catching more crooks. The arguments against are that the practitioners of surveillance cannot be trusted; that they will break the laws themselves, and then use their privileged access to avoid punishment. At this point, I'd almost write "well, duh!" But then I can't count the number of times I've seen some comment posted on an article where the writer is voting for more surveillance without a whisper of concern for the "who watches the watchers" problem.
IT Pros Can't Resist Peeking At Privileged Info
26% of IT staff admit to using their privileges to view confidential data. That is the percentage that would admit to it.
GCreep: Google Engineer Stalked Teens, Spied on Chats
A Google staffer, no less, with the mission to "not be evil" was nevertheless. Quote: "...SREs are given unfettered access to users' accounts for the services they oversee..."
Government Spying on Itself
Usually this kind of article (if found on someplace other than IOAI) would have a link about some nefarious Government plot to read our emails. And maybe that will show up in the future, but this time, the paranoids out there in media land goofed(!):
New US Government Project To Monitor Electronic Communication
COULD THE U.S. GOVERNMENT START READING YOUR EMAILS?
These articles are reporting on PRODIGAL, which is created by Georgia Tech for the U.S. Government. What's lost during the fireworks and outrage, however, is that PRODIGAL is designed to spy on internal Government computer networks. This is an actual case, if the story is correct, of an informational organization seeking to reinforce probity through active surveillance of itself. In other words, this is a mole-catcher. And the media reports are badly inaccurate in tone.
Moral: Not everything about privacy and surveillance is gloom and doom. The PRODIGAL story is not exactly a lullaby that will help you sleep better, but it is a step forward and upward.
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