Agencies are reportedly pooling immigration data, Social Security numbers, and more into a central database. FPF is suing to learn how deep it goes.

The Trump administration is on its way to creating every authoritarian’s dream: a centralized database containing intimate details about every resident of this country, fully searchable by artificial intelligence. This powerful tool would empower the government to conduct previously unimagined levels of surveillance and harassment against its own people.

Freedom of the Press Foundation is suing the administration for documents behind the database. We know that this isn’t just something that the Trump administration would exploit; once built, it’s unlikely any administration could resist the urge to weaponize our personal information.

This nightmare privacy scenario began one year ago, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order that expanded data sharing across the federal government. The administration touted the order, “Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos,” as a way to target fraud within a supposedly bloated government.

The order was no such thing.

  • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
    61·
    16 hours ago

    Historically capital captured democrats supported these types of initiatives in the past, such as the patriot act and its renewals, as well as increased funding to the institutions that implemented Prism.

    Both sides are very much beholden to capital interests, so it’s accurate to call it capitalist oligarchs.

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
      11·
      10 hours ago

      Oh, I’m not a fan of the democrats. Fuck 'em.

      But what’s your alternative? Do you think corruption vanishes when capitalism crumbles?

      Sweet summer child, history does not agree with your platitudinous outlook.

      I fucking hate the American corporate system. I hate what they do to everyone, myself included. I’m not even against changing that system.

      But that alone won’t solve this problem… If you believe otherwise, I have a bridge I’d like to share with you.

      • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
        1·
        10 hours ago

        My comment is in response to the idea that only the GOP are ‘The capitalist Oligarchy’, my point is both sides are fucked, the Democrats just slow down the fucking.

        But what’s your alternative?

        I think building up an alternative system within our current one so that there’s not a power vacuum when it all collapses is the best path forward. This is known as Prefiguration. Ideally, we’d prefigure towards a libertarian socialist society, much like was practiced in Catalonia in the 30’s, and as depicted in The Dispossessed.