The US government is buying troves of data about Americans
Are there any countries which have the capabilities to spy on their citizenry that do not? I think there’s this idea of American exceptionalism, that spying on citizens is something that happens <i>elsewhere</i> but not in the good ‘ol US of A. But that’s probably more propaganda than fact.<p>The US gov has trampled on essentially every right we were taught about in 4th grade schoolhouse rock. They infiltrated and spied on Muslims in Minnesota [1] and before that had an entire program of spying on any activist at all. Before that they put entire races (Germans and Japanese) in internment camps and SCOTUS said it was fine. Hell, they even bombed people in Philadelphia.<p>My point is, exploiting the 3rd party doctrine to spy on Americans might be out of step with your conception of America and what you think it should be, but it’s not out of step with the historical reality of America.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;09&#x2F;01&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;fbi-terrorism-terry-albury.html?unlocked_article_code=cBpnZAY_Sd2HH80iAOmIkmLfGxb3efV_kXuEM7huRvP6VkeTOMFrHhN4-rNHfsP_4oEvNoLFGVfX2tzOqz2Uae4j30iJwBGgdqdu1rRGBvc78J4C31mI-7u-yk-fB9-moBM2n_xakiYwbsnax98OSTwiv9Ggs6HVaGW4aPMReI3fpJoHB4vCBvaBK74Bda9CzfMkH3DJTFbUJDLL71474rpWvnmRUm3jZU3ulosiI_8KiH67aAIQulojHP0BBft6ESN0y-NBib_eyb6Q_5XXuiNgwkjL7cOsJDE6Su0tO47k36R8GI0N6r-rO2Y_mD88EFgIm6F8LCW9-USxMzktyZHvUXqM&amp;smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;09&#x2F;01&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;fbi-terrorism-te...</a>