United States of Secrets

I just finished watching "United States of Secrets" part 1 & 2. This has been a revelation to what I had already known about what was revealed by Edward Snowden. I knew there were serious overreaches in certain areas like email and some text messages, but I am in shock. Phone calls, recording of conversation, pictures, emails that are casual... EVERYTHING! This discredits the U.S. Government completely. I understand the need for national security, but as the movie said, there needs to be ways to use the privacy protections to "anonymize who it's listening in on". I have mixed feeling about Edward Snowden. On one hand he could have put thousands of lives at risk buy revealing this information that is classified. I don't think he had a choice to do it, but maybe not as much. On the other hand, as a Army solider, he made a promise to "support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic". There is the greater good, and at the end of the day he said the purpose was to open conversation about "These things need to be determined by the public, not by somebody who’s was simply hired by the government. This is the truth. This is what’s happening. You should decide whether we need to be doing this". I agree it needs to become a public debate. I know that my information, not matter how careful I am, will get out there somehow if I use modern technology. What people need to do is take preventative measures to ensure their privacy and security. They should read all the terms and conditions, check the privacy settings of Facebook and  be mindful of what and how they post, share and use the technology. 

1. President Obama's reversal on FISA, refusing to uphold his promise of Federal transparency, is the reason why Edward Snowden became a whistleblower. a. True

2. "Metadata" refers to b.email and text message content.


3. President Obama commissioned a committee to investigate the NSA, giving them free reign to assess every aspect of the agency's behavior, as long as their investigation did not
c. interfere with his Constitutional oath in defending the United States of America.

4. Snowden's interview and revelation of the NSA's surveillance techniques that violate the IV Amendment rights of Americans brought the President to the point of justifying efforts in the balance of b. freedom and privacy.

5. What kind of access were internet companies such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft, and Apple giving the NSA? a. Unknowing access to their physical data streams. b. Enforced secret compliance through a National Security Letter.d. Both a and b.


6. The NSA modeled their internet data and intelligence gathering after a. social media's marketing algorithms.

7. Prism was not only the code name for a data-collection program of the Federal Government but was the actual method through which the NSA was copying internet data from AT&T's internet backbone in San Francisco. a. True

8. Google, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, Apple, Microsoft and and others were amassing huge data troves on their users, just like the NSA was amassing on US citizens, resulting in a. surveillance for advertising instead of law enforcement.

9. ________ messages are scanned for content much in the same way the NSA scans data for meaning. c. Gmail

10. The NSA piggy-backs on _______ developed by social media companies to surveil US citizens. c. tracking cookies

The Future of Learning.

The public education system is going to have to change. It is not a matter of "if", but "when". Young kids today are using the internet was a way to get information, but are not really learning anything. This is where the changes need to be made. I think that standardized testing needs to be eliminated. I am currently experiencing this as I prepare to take the Graduate Requirement Exam (GRE) for grad school. The test does not determine your knowledge, intellect or your experience, but how well you learn to take their GRE test. This I see is the problem with the current educational system. Having a cookie cutter, one size fits all style of education, and then using that same system to test your ability to remember and regurgitate that information is flawed. The current tests force you to remember what is going to be on a test and not understanding the concepts. This also goes for standardized scoring of GPA's. GPA's are society’s way of measuring your ability to follow the instructions, coloring in the lines and do what "they" expect. Not that there shouldn’t be a way to measure ability, but if your whole life revolves around remembering what needs to be on the test to get the good grade, then you have missed the point. I know that when I have to incorporate a concept into my life, how does it relate to me and how will I use it in the future, I will have it with me forever. The saying goes "give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime". This is true in our world. Helping students to learn and understand the concepts and measuring on that understanding instead of a test to see if they remember what was written down, would prove to be a greater benefit.

Follow the Dots...

Where are people finding all of these people with all this stuff? That's a great question in our society, especially when you start to consider the vastness of the Sharing economy. Collaborative consumption as it is also known, is a system build around people coming together to share resources. These can be cars, houses, farm equipment and even their own food. The ability to get the information out there and on the web is through apps, data collection and personal disclosure. 

We focused on the term "Stuff", which resembles the day to day items that we use and definitely take for granted. This can be things like your rakes, shovels, your books, art, toys and even clothes. But how is this information help others. You can post on an App that you have a particular item that you can lend out, have a particular skill that you have knowledge about, or even access to stuff. Also if you have a need, or a want. People now have the ability to find someone with that thing, skill or same desire. They do this by posting or liking an event and their profile and information becomes available. 

Another thing that helps people find you, or you find then is the location information that you share from your phone. This helps people know what is available around them, but can and has been used for more sinister plans. If you are posting pictures from your house, would be thieves, stalkers and predators can see and know where you live, what you have and who you are with. Monitoring your dots will help you to be actively involved with the groups that you want to be and also have that safeguard to protect yourself