Government wants to track everyone's Facebook

Government wants to track everyone's Facebook

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Discussion

CommanderJameson

Original Poster:

22,096 posts

233 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
At the moment, if you want to look at my Facebook profile, you have to be a Facebook member that I've specifically and explicitly marked as a "friend".

I'm pretty sure that one Facebook member who will never be on my friend list is "The UK Government".

However, in true Labour style, the excessive (and stupidly useless - trivially circumvented by SSL, for example) EU Data Retention Directive isn't enough for them.

This grips mein scheisse on a couple of levels. On the one hand, the Government should really stop pissing about with pathetic half-baked measures like this. The Bad People will simply delete their Facebook profiles and use other methods to communicate. On the other hand, it's yet another intrusion of this ever-growing state into my life, and I wish they'd feck off.

Request: if you want to discuss the merits of Facebook and similar sites per se, start another thread.

phumy

5,743 posts

244 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
Maybe GCHQ or the equivalent (who ever they may be) are probably already in there doing it anyway, it dont bother me too much.

_DeeJay_

4,962 posts

261 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
phumy said:
Maybe GCHQ or the equivalent (who ever they may be) are probably already in there doing it anyway, it dont bother me too much.
Me neither, though it does seem like a waste of time.

As has been previously said, anyone with any knowledge of what's being monitored and who cares would just simply encrypt their data. Then what? The government would have just cost us another fortune by storing lots of peoples conversations about where they're going at the weekend or what they're having for dinner whilst gaining nothing worthwhile from criminals. Result.



sneijder

5,221 posts

241 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
I just clicked on your profile here, I saw the words 'Motorway' and 'Energy Bomb'.

I'd be worried now if I were you.

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
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The government could read your facebook profile the day facebook started. Any electronic communication or type of phone call can easily be monitored. I think the problem is the volume of information being gathered and the fact that the 'bad guys' don't register their accounts in their own names etc.


MrV

2,748 posts

235 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
So you expected a site that has CIA funding to be secure from the government ?

andy400

10,730 posts

238 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
Haha! I'm not on Facebook.

StealthAndy, deep undercover, once again escapes the clutches of the evil brownite government.

THX138

483 posts

200 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
What use is the information anyway

"Stacey is off to the gym again" ...etc,etc,etc

Le TVR

3,097 posts

258 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
_DeeJay_ said:
As has been previously said, anyone with any knowledge of what's being monitored and who cares would just simply encrypt their data. Then what? .
First thing of any interest is going to be encrypted data. For those of you who havent dealt with our friends in the west country, encryption is often classified in terms of time. (ie the time taken for them to decode and read it)
If you have an encryption system that is classed as better than 20 minutes I would be more than surprised yes


The Hypno-Toad

12,685 posts

212 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
MrV said:
So you expected a site that has CIA funding to be secure from the government ?
Quite. And the same goes for Bebo and MySpace.

[dons tinfoil helmet & Vendetta mask and slips quietly into the shadows.]

Don

28,377 posts

291 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
I don't have a Facebook profile. Never intend to have one.

It's bad enough having a PH one! Anyone who's really interested can find my opinions on absolutely anything on here. Ten years of posts do tend to give it away a bit.

Nothing on the Internet is confidential. If you want it to be confidential? Don't write it down. Never tell a soul.

Whilst reading my emails or accessing my private data is reprehensible and I will vote against any Government seeking additional powers to do so - I accept that anything actually on the net is public. And I communicate accordingly. As everyone should.

Mill Wheel

6,149 posts

203 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
I dont have a Facebook entry - but I am thinking of putting one up, explaining how I support banning cars, support the Ramblers Association, and urging all to become vegetarians.

Who would have foreseen that I would have a conduit to HMG, explaining my green credentials!

Schmucks!

Saddle bum

4,211 posts

226 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
It really is to the advantage of everybody for the spooks to concentrate on media like Facebook. After all, no-one with any brain puts stuff on there that would compromise them - they are just plain stupid if they do. If GCHQ wish to invest their efforts in rummaging through public knicker drawers, it means they are not poking their snouts into other areas. If you really want to keep things private, you have two option; don't commit things to media or, use strong encryption.

Brown and Boris

11,827 posts

242 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
THX138 said:
What use is the information anyway

"Stacey is off to the gym again" ...etc,etc,etc
"Stacey is meeting Dave and Ali to consider the best way to smuggle in radioactive materials"

" Stacey is being marched up the stairs by two female police officrs for a strip search"

"Dave is being trampled by hoards of men in stab proof vests"

" Ali is parading in an orange boiler suit"

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
Brown and Boris said:
"Stacey is off to the gym"

" Stacey is being marched up the stairs by two female police officrs for a strip search"
All this stuff is on this facebook thing?

With pictures and that?

k_jessop

191 posts

195 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
The police can already go on your facebook so if they wanted to I reckon the government could gain access. I was pretty shocked tbh when I was shown pictures off my FB by the coppers, didn't think they would mess about on computers like that!

arfur

3,893 posts

221 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
social networking entity analytics is already carried out for operational purposes.....

anonymous-user

61 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
k_jessop said:
I was pretty shocked tbh when I was shown pictures off my FB by the coppers, didn't think they would mess about on computers like that!
Why were they doing that?

jshell

11,344 posts

212 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
el stovey said:
k_jessop said:
I was pretty shocked tbh when I was shown pictures off my FB by the coppers, didn't think they would mess about on computers like that!
Why were they doing that?
Yeah, please elaborate!

madbadger

11,616 posts

251 months

Thursday 19th March 2009
quotequote all
Doesn't seem very useful. Powers for the sake of them.

I'll just have to remember not to set my status to 'Andy is off murdering again'

That'll fox them.