Another weapon we have against the state’s surveillance apparatus is Julian Assange. Mr. Assange, through his Wikileaks project, has provided a platform whistle blowers can use to leak information and remain anonymous. Wikileaks has now announced another project called the Wikileaks Counterintelligence Unit, which will attempt to actively surveil surveillance contractors:
The inaugural release zeroes in on 19 different contractors as they travel visit countries like Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Spain, and Brazil. The location data displays only a time stamp and a country for each entry, but occasionally displays the message, “phone is currently not logged into the network,” indicating the data likely comes from some kind of cell-tracking service. The contractors in question work for Western companies like Gamma International, designer of the infamous FinFisher spyware tool — and as with previous Wikileaks releases marked as “Spy Files,” readers will also find marketing brochures for surveillance products to intercept and monitor web traffic.
I think this is a great idea and needs to be expanded. It would be great if we could eventually do to the surveillance apparatus what it has done to us. Imagine a world where anybody working to spy on us, whether they be private contractors or public National Security Agency (NSA) employees, was being spied on 24/7. Perhaps losing all sense of privacy would be enough to discourage people from working for these bastards.
As much as I have some problem with few of the things the NSA is doing, I wouldn’t mind working for them. They hire the kind of people that I am (PhD type who gets mentally wet from the idea of doing something _really_ challenging, borderline impossible).
In particular the idea that having some of my private data (such as the ones found on Assange’s website) exposed for all to see, might make me change my mind is ludicrous…
Being given some of the hardest problems known to man in exchange of a nice paycheque, is a nerd dream…
Honestly, the NSA couldn’t afford me at this point. Although I can be bought in most cases there are times when my principles, and desire for LULZ, overcomes my desire for material wealth.
That depends on the kind of nerd you are. In my case I’m probably what one would consider a chaotic neutral. I derive great enjoyment out of creating chaotic messes for authoritarians. Knowing that I may have cost the NSA time and resources by helping even one more person encrypt their communications is worth more than a six figure salary.
You can do it for the money or you can do it for the LULZ. My personality gives me a tendency towards the latter.