New Zealand Cyber Spies Win New Powers

This was on the front page of the Sunday Rag. It was slashdotted. This is the best comment.

New cyber-monitoring measures have been quietly introduced in New Zealand giving police and Security Intelligence Service officers the power to monitor all aspects of someone's online life.

Who in the world thinks their “online life” can be kept secret from anyone? Good grief, you don't need to be the New Zealand Secret Service to dig around online to see what people are up to. Once again, if you don't want people to know what your doing, don't put it online for everyone including the spooks to see. The Interwebs are by their nature not private. And really, no one really cares what's on your Facebook except your uptight potential employer.

via Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | New Zealand Cyber Spies Win New Powers.

The comments in Slashdot are illuminating. The means by which the US government has interpreted the law are interesting, given search and seizure is unconsititunal without a warrant.

Now the US does not do one thing that would make it secure: profile and risk manage people. They are afraid of being called names. Like Racist. They should harden up, ignore the Islamists, and use all information, including demographics, in their intelligence and at border controls.

There are ways to keep your information private. The main one is to not go onl-ine. New ideas, sensitive ideas, should stay off the computer and off the internet. The first email around the idea makes it searchable and public. Which at some time you have to do, to document your ownership of the ideas.

In my view, the real issue is the threshold for a warrant.