In the wake of CFP2003, Dan Gillmor surveys the state of liberty in America.
...the architecture of tomorrow is being embedded with the tools of a surveillance society: ubiquitous cameras; the creation and linking of all manner of databases; insecure networks; and policies that invite abuse. They are being put into place by an unholy, if loose, alliance of government, private industry and just plain nosy regular folks.
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Meanwhile, under cover of a war that has caused the news media to ignore other important news, the Bush administration issued an order that will guarantee the wrongful arrests or harassment of innocent people. The Justice Department told the FBI it no longer needed to worry about the accuracy of its National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database containing 39 million criminal records, including some documents that would barely pass the gossip hurdle.
Think about that last bit for a moment. Criminal records no longer need to be accurate. In the name of "security," are we willing to lock up the wrong person just so we feel safer? If there's a rapist on the streets, and the cops arrest a guy, sure you're going to feel safer. But if the police have arrested the wrong guy, based on "inaccurate" policing, you won't actually be any safer because the real rapist is out on the streets.
Likewise, we might feel safer knowing that the FBI have detained men like Maher Hawash, but if it turns out he really does know nothing about terrorist groups, his detention won't have helped prevent future terrorist attacks in any way. We'd be no more secure. Are we willing to sacrifice the civil rights of men like Hawash just so we can feel more secure?