zlacker

> It being for sale means anyone can be doing it which might be a framing that would be more alarming to the law-and-order types.

How about "more alarming to the lawmakers?"

Someone could show that movement info, for example, is available for sale on a legislator. Or a legislator's spouse or child.

Now do you see the problem, oh you who write the laws?

>>Animal+(OP)
> Someone could show that movement info, for example, is available for sale on a legislator. Or a legislator's spouse or child.

Surely someone is already doing this? It wouldn't be especially expensive, but even if it were we could probably crowdfund it easily enough.

>>Animal+(OP)
I suspect all those who write the laws already have a Damoclean Sword threatening to drop on them at any time convenient. So I wouldn't count on much help from them whether the laws apply to them or not. It's a virtual certainty that noone who seeks power is free of exploitable skeletons. They are the kind of people who seek power. So the law enforcement and security infrastructure can leak that whenever they choose.

I guess what I'm saying is, your suggestion would be a good idea, but the security apparatus figured it out before you did a long time ago. See ABSCAM for instance.

>>Animal+(OP)
I think that something that should have made lawmakers, and others in public office, sit up and take notice, is a couple of years ago when a prominent and highly-placed Catholic priest was found to be hanging out on Grindr and with other users of the app, shall we say. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248431/usccb-general...

The entity that orchestrated that outing, with the accompanying simple purchase of location data, etc. was a Roman Catholic newspaper known for high-quality investigative pieces. https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/pillar-investigates-usccb-g...

If such incriminating data is so easily procured against just one guy using a gay hookup app, imagine the treasure troves of data that could be wielded against Members of Congress and other people in power. Even in the absence of wrongdoing, I still don't think that public figures would enjoy having the public know their every move, every minute of every day, but the reality is that all the apps they run are phoning home and uploading that data constantly, unceasingly, and it's all for sale.

>>Animal+(OP)
That guy who was tracking celebrities's plane traffic and publishing on TWTTR could instead do this. Automatically and repeatedly publish legally obtained data on all politicians fed, state and local. Now that would constitute a public service.

>>mc32+c3
Except they would make that illegal for politicians and let us all twist in the wind.

>>Animal+(OP)
No, they still don't care. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/20/opinion/locat...

>>Animal+(OP)
Could someone start the 'Decentralized Intelligence Agency(, LLC)', buying, collating, and analyzing open market data feeds, and allowing subscribers to see what's known about themselves and others?

>>pjmorr+Q9
Sure.

If you have the wherewithal to protect yourself from the unsavory underworld types who will inevitably come after you for revealing things they'd just as soon keep secret.

There's a reason you only see the government doing this kind of thing.

>>bilbo0+z1
I'm reminded of how Obama was vocally opposed to domestic surveillance and campaigned on ending all the new spying on the American people, but once he was in office he changed his tune very quickly and ended up expanding the NSA's ability to spy on the people instead.

I figure either he was shown some very strong and classified evidence that the data the NSA had been collecting was critical to protecting the people even while it violated their constitutional rights and freedoms or else he was shown how much dirt they have on him and his family and he was blackmailed into publicly declaring his love for NSA spying and handing them more tools to collect data while making only a few token changes.

>>pjmorr+Q9
Bellingcat are an investigative agency which uses open data and decentralised members (I think), but not doing it for members to see themselves:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellingcat

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54680228-we-are-bellingc...

>>Animal+(OP)
John Oliver did it (https://youtu.be/wqn3gR1WTcA?t=1305). I don't think it led anywhere.

>>autoex+cd
I figure either he was shown some very strong and classified evidence that the data the NSA had been collecting was critical... or else he was shown how much dirt they have on him

Just, Devil's Advocate, but, yeah, why can't it be both?

>>nickpe+X3
I wonder if the Equal Protections Clause of the 14th Amendment could be used to knock down these "for everyone but us" caveats.

>>pjmorr+Q9
Yea sure. I mean that's already a thing to some extent, but, if you want the honest answer. Everything you do digitally is known about you. Your physical location, places you regularly go to and when, Websites you visit, your account names, etc. Even ISPs can sell your data these days.

>>rootus+X
It's being done, and has been done for around a decade now. New York times did a good piece on how every civilians cellphone gps data has been for sale a long time ago. Bounty hunters buy this kind of data all the time is my understanding.

>>thumbu+qR1
I'm aware of this; I think many ordinary people and lawmakers are perhaps less clear on it, and that making it easy to see would help people understand the situation.