The NSA and Big Data

With all the news about the government surveillance programs, maybe we'll get a real discussion about how dangerous these databases are, and how utterly pointless they generally will be.  How on earth can anybody put all that data to some good use when it comes to the supposed goal of stopping terrorists?  Does anyone think that having hundreds of billions of phone call records will really do anything to stop terrorist attacks?  To really root out any terrorists, you first almost have to have somebody blow something up so you know who's calls to trace back through.  That is something we could do after the fact anyway, without the gargantuan database. 

I think there is no doubt that somebody will tap into this data to try to stop some other more pedestrian crimes.  Insider trading, maybe?  Who's to say whether somebody was helped along by these databases in deciding who to ask for a warrant for, a whistle blower?

Speaking of the whistle blower in this case, here's a little data on his most recent employer:

Edward J. Snowden’s employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, has become one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the United States almost exclusively by serving a single client: the government of the United States.

Over the last decade, much of the company’s growth has come from selling expertise, technology and manpower to the National Security Agency and other federal intelligence agencies. Booz Allen earned $1.3 billion, 23 percent of the company’s total revenue, from intelligence work during its most recent fiscal year.

The government has sharply increased spending on high-tech intelligence gathering since 2001, and both the Bush and Obama administrations have chosen to rely on private contractors like Booz Allen for much of the resulting work.

Thousands of people formerly employed by the government, and still approved to deal with classified information, now do essentially the same work for private companies. Mr. Snowden, who revealed on Sunday that he provided the recent leak of national security documents, is among them.....

The company, based in Virginia, is primarily a technology contractor. It reported revenues of $5.76 billion for the fiscal year ended in March and was No. 436 on Fortune’s list of the 500 largest public companies. The government provided 98 percent of that revenue, the company said.

Its rapid growth, fueled by government investment after the Sept. 11 attacks, led to a 2008 buyout by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, followed by a public offering in 2010.

Ah, the Carlisle Group.  It pays to put former big-time government officials into no-work positions that make them tons of money.  But seriously, $5.76 billion in revenue, 98% from the government?  I'm really impressed with the titans of the private sector.  And what do we get?  Enough information to determine who I have a crush on.  Please, end this shit now.  A few idiots in some God-forsaken country, are not worth the time, effort, talent and treasure we've put into wetting ourselves for.