
Well it's a good thing they banned TikTok.
Getting someone's name, date of birth, address, medical records and religious practices is one thing, but finding out if they prefer cat videos or dog videos is just over the top!
The sensitive personal information of American military personnel and their families is on sale from US data brokers for a pittance, Duke University academics have found. That personal data, sold for as little as $0.12 per record, is said to pose a threat because it could be acquired by foreign adversaries for malicious …
I've seen stories before about how in-theatre bases were easily identifiable from apps like Strava, Map My Run, etc. - military personnel with GPS trackers take their daily exercise by running laps of the compound, and upload a graphic description of the boundary to the various fitness apps for all to see.
"I've seen stories before about how in-theatre bases were easily identifiable from apps like Strava,"
I remember a story about that. It's not just that people are doing fitness runs around an inside perimeter as that's not hard to determine, but since they were also wearing a FitBit or comparable device while on security duty which gave information on patrol routes, how quickly they make those rounds, where they might linger for a smoke or to make checks that doors are secured and when there are shift changes. That freaked out some base commanders that all of the information was publicly available. Honestly, the military should know better as intel staff on "our" side are thinking about how they can spy, um.... gather information, on the other guys.
"I can imagine a certain section of US politicians loving this - a lovely big stick to beat "big tech" with."
At the same time, those politicians are very enamored with tech and are giving military contractors untold (because their account is shite) bales of money to keep developing more of the same. The great thing about paper is that copies are more laborious and the operating system can't be hacked.
It would be very American to bring in privacy laws, not to protect people, but to protect the military! It is scary how much data is freely distributed about people in the US - and all of it could be used for potential blackmail - not just for the military
America's gun laws ensure that Americans kill more Americans than terrorists could.
The US government regularly hits an impasse and stops working as the two parties hate each other.
The culture wars and political divide there is as much a tinderbox as the Balkans.
Ukraine is running them out of ammo.
US government sanctions are reducing their access to resources and markets.
The national debt is stratospheric and will only get worse as they seek to replicate everything China does domestically.
The America First policies and subsidies that both parties support are antagonising their allies.
They are taking down their own tech sector, which has driven their economy and their global power for decades.
They are removing Chinese access to US tech, which will block their own ability to spy on China via back doors in it.
So there is nothing that terrorists or enemy powers can do to the US that the US is not doing to itself, far more effectively.
"America's gun laws ensure that Americans kill more Americans than terrorists could."
The statement would be less inflammatory if you added a few words to the tune of "that American criminals kill more....". The average US citizen has never and will never discharge a weapon at another person. The average criminal has a higher chance of doing that with the intent to kill so to be able to rob somebody. The person found recently in the nation's capital with an "AR-15" (media people don't know one weapon from another) didn't likely acquire that rifle legally and it will probably turn out to be stolen. The average American isn't even likely to be a menace to tin cans past a certain distance with a firearm.
The sad part is there are maggots out there willing to aggregate and then push other peoples pilfered data for profit.
The equally sad part out there is there are maggots willing to buy the aggregated data of dubious origin.
It seems data brokers and their clientele have become the Farangi of our time (from the Star Trek Next Gen and follow-ons).
It's the side effects on the lives of real peoples that are lost in this frenzied capitalistic data-centric masturbation. The 23andMe intrusion that lifted close to a million personally-identifiable genetic records. In this cesspool, it is the insurance companies and actuarials playing to part of the buyer maggots who with a gleam in their eye suck up all the health data for purposes they are not allowed to under HIIPA in the States. (you guys on the other side of the pond have similar medical information rules.
Six months later your parents are in tears because they are uninsurable for some nebulous reason given by their health insurer. And the chilling anecdotes just keep on coming. Good lord, where does it end? (rhetorical question)