Government-Sanctioned Spying
according to recruitment propaganda handed out by the FBI and the Department of Justice to Internet cafe owners across the country, a person may be considered “suspicious” if they “are overly concerned about privacy” or if he/she “attempts to shield the screen from view of others.”
Other “Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities Related to Internet Café,” according to this particular flyer, include, “paying with cash,” traveling an “illogical distance to use [the] Internet Café,” acting “nervous” or exhibiting “suspicious behavior inconsistent with activities.”
What constitutes an “illogical distance,” we wonder? Two miles? Five? Twenty? What about visiting a cafe while on vacation? Is that an “illogical distance” from a person’s home? Come to think of it, what does an “illogical distance” even mean? Negative three miles? Minus six miles? Moreover, how would one even know the distance a person traveled to email grandma or fill out online job applications? Should we be spying on them?
Well... Yes, say the Feds.
If a fellow citizen arouses your suspicion — based on what must surely be the vaguest criterion imaginable — the federal agencies encourage you to “be part of the solution.” How? Well, they’d like you to...
“Gather information about individuals without drawing attention to yourself. Identify license plates, vehicle description, names used, languages spoken, ethnicity, etc.”They’d like to recruit you, in other words. Just imagine, a whole community of spooks, moles, informants, sleuths and...
Wait...who WOULDN’T be nervous in an Internet Café in the USA these days?
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