BIG BROTHER IS DATABASES

The key to the 4th Amendment—which is the closest thing to the protection of our privacy in the Constitution—says—and I am paraphrasing—that your privacy should not be violated without a warrant, and that the warrant must “particularly” describe the place to be searched. In my interpretation, the recent NSA spying violates your 4th Amendment rights, and here is why. The only way to conduct data mining of the type done by the NSA is to do random searches with private databases which identify innocent Americans along with the bad guys. I know, because I did predictive modeling when I was in the junk mail industry. There is nothing “particular” about data brokers looking through millions of your personal records in the process of “possibly” finding the potential terrorist. And if this is the only solution, we must either revise the 4th Amendment, or stop the procedure. Technology has outpaced current law, and it has certainly surpassed the wildest dreams of our forefathers. It’s time to recognize this and do something about it.