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Is the USA Patriot Act haunting Gmail and Google Apps?
theglobeandmail.com — Lakehead University in Canada was one of the first to adopt Google's software model of the future. An administrator boasts the move was the right thing, saving the school hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual operating costs. But he notes one trade-off: The faculty was told not to transmit any private data over the system, including grades.
spinchange- 798 diggs
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- LANjackal, on 03/26/2008, -0/+66Actually, the Patriot Act hurts just about every US electronic provider of any kind, period.
- BM5k, on 03/26/2008, -0/+5I have but one digg to give...
- OwdenBowden, on 03/26/2008, -2/+4It is a discrase for each and every Man, Woman & child that gave up their Life and Liberty's - True Patriots - to allow the Country founded by these individuals to publish to law a Document that Takes these very rights and liberties away once again.
I do not fear the digg up or down - I am just call to arms all who seem to have an opinion - then sit and nod but take no action. We are at revolutionary times my friends and we need actions - Not Words - to take back what is rightfully ours.
Join or Die
G-d Bless America
- caponumen, on 03/26/2008, -29/+2Thanks "democrats"!
- FTLJohnson, on 03/26/2008, -5/+5Hrm, those NAY votes seem to contain a whole lot of named in italics.... http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll414.xml
You'd think the lazy bastards could have used COLORS? I guess they have better things to do...
Like eat that next glazed cruller! NOM NOM NOM! - scallon, on 03/26/2008, -3/+4Um, excuse me?
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 03/26/2008, -1/+10More like the rubber stamp Republican Congress.
- FTLJohnson, on 03/26/2008, -5/+5Hrm, those NAY votes seem to contain a whole lot of named in italics.... http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/roll414.xml
- fodbirdy, on 03/26/2008, -31/+2***** the Constitution
- mikexcore, on 03/26/2008, -3/+13How dare you say ***** the Constitution which is the only thing standing between us and a Bush dictatorship!
- Giga, on 03/26/2008, -0/+0You mean Bush isn't a dictator?
- D0m0kun, on 03/26/2008, -2/+8Be careful with the Patriot Act, though. I've heard it has Syphilis.
- FTLJohnson, on 03/26/2008, -1/+5Somebody wanted some late night attention...
but as usual... was on digg instead...
- mikexcore, on 03/26/2008, -3/+13How dare you say ***** the Constitution which is the only thing standing between us and a Bush dictatorship!
- thecoolestguy, on 03/26/2008, -0/+22I knew that from an economic standpoint this was the biggest problem with the Patriot Act. It seriously hurts the international standing of American information based companies that want to store clients' confidential information.
- xerigen, on 03/26/2008, -2/+32Yeah.. well at least terrorists should now be afraid to transmit their secret terror plots through a google spreadsheet! Go Patriot Act!
/sarcasm- xerigen, on 03/26/2008, -1/+11Oh, and don't even THINK about sending the powerpoint presentation on how to blow up a building.
- theeEqualizer, on 03/26/2008, -0/+6It makes you want to log into your gmail account and take inventory of what among your private life is in sight. Not that deleting it will do any good. Not in this case. Once its logged, its logged.
- makkaveli19, on 03/26/2008, -5/+10leave google alone!
- mfc5200, on 03/26/2008, -0/+13Yea, I recently set up a CD account.I was told when opening an account, because of the patriot act, they need to submit the information of all new account holders to the government and validate it. There was a mix up because my school only gives out P.O Box's. And because P.O Box's are anonymous, I couldn't open up an account. It was a huge hassle to go around this and it literally took a month and 10+ phone calls for my account to get setup. I can't imagine how much this bureaucracy is costing our economy.
And tomorrow I'm going to try and set up an IRA. sigh... - scallon, on 03/26/2008, -2/+45"The U.S. Patriot Act, passed in the weeks after the September, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States" In the weeks after.... The weeks! The thing is over 300 pages long! How the hell was it written and debated and then passed in such a short time? Oh, that's right. It was written before and lay waiting in a file somewhere for just such an event. Oh, yeah it wasn't debated, it passed through congress faster the new page's email address. God, what a crock of *****.
- DeathfireD, on 03/26/2008, -0/+7thats because at the time anything in the title or summary that mentioned "stopping terrorists" was passed. After the attacks, everyone was pro Bush and pro stopping terror so it only makes sense that something as stupid as the Patriot act would be passed.
- thecoolestguy, on 03/26/2008, -1/+4lol @ new page's email, especially considering it's likely to be a male page.
- digghasnoethics, on 03/26/2008, -1/+13European companies and organisations would be legally prevented from exporting and processing data in regimes where European privacy laws or equivalents did not apply.
Since the US government actions could potentially lead to extremely illegal acts (grabbing you at a transit airport and depositing you in a oubliette without fair trial) I would hope that EU companies are aware that they cannot implement such systems until reasonable privacy standards are maintained (eg normal basic human rights), and that they could be held accountable and liable for actions taken by the US proto-gestapo as a result.
Tell me again which US presidential candidate has publicly announced they will drop the patriot act into a deep, dark hole the moment they are elected?- matador3, on 03/26/2008, -3/+4I think it was that kooky racist nut job Ron Paul. Luckily we're much too sophisticated to elect the likes of him. /s
- SoxSweepAgain, on 03/26/2008, -1/+25No law has EVER been passed in this one-time-democracy that carries so ironic a name as the "USA Patriot Act".
Orwell rolls in his grave; Stalin smiles.- subliminalurge, on 03/26/2008, -0/+1Orwell isn't the only one rolling in his grave. Not by a long shot.
- Search153, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism(Public Law, 107-56).
Can't help but find it strange that the acronym "PATRIOT" is used for an act which has served to undermine the liberty of Americans, hardly a patriotic gesture. If that isn't eerily reminiscent of "NewSpeak", I don't know what is.- SoxSweepAgain, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9"Providing Appropriate Tools Resembling Incredibly Obvious Totalitarianism".
/Fixed that for ya, Mr. Rove & Mr. Cheney. You can thank me later by dying soon.- Search153, on 03/26/2008, -1/+3I see what you did there.
- SoxSweepAgain, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9"Providing Appropriate Tools Resembling Incredibly Obvious Totalitarianism".
- bingobongony, on 03/26/2008, -5/+1which is why it is NOT the wave of hte future. People will NEVER keep their private information online. There is simply NO reason to.
- cadmiumpaint, on 03/26/2008, -1/+4they already do. its called social networking sites.
- bingobongony, on 03/26/2008, -4/+2Not professionals. And not most people.
- nmnnotmyname, on 03/26/2008, -0/+1Oh, so it includes you.
- neodorian, on 03/26/2008, -0/+3I don't keep private info on those sites. I only post public info that I don't mind other people seeing.
- bingobongony, on 03/26/2008, -4/+2Not professionals. And not most people.
- cadmiumpaint, on 03/26/2008, -1/+4they already do. its called social networking sites.
- cybercat, on 03/26/2008, -0/+11***** the Patriot Act.
- gotigertom, on 03/26/2008, -0/+6I would imagine one's long term Digg trends and rants are also fair game. Lord help all those with the odd or several left leaning posts. Funny how the most memorable quotes from Orwell's book ring true today...
WAR IS PEACE (let's get them before they get us)
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY (Gitmo....no freedom there...may as well be slaves)
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH (Turn on your cable television...hello Doctor Phil!) - mac4drew, on 03/26/2008, -3/+4Yeah, let's single out Google again. Because they're the ones who just hand over information to the US government immediately when asked to do so. Oh wait, my bad, that was Yahoo and Microsoft.
- spyrochaete, on 03/26/2008, -0/+6Google is a victim in this story, same as every other American company No conspiracy here.
- jlhoben, on 03/26/2008, -0/+14He ain't heavy, he's my big brother.
The "Patriot" Act is designed to control citizens, not protect them. A tyrant is far more dangerous than any terrorist but this is the danger everyone has forgotten about. The terrorist doesn't want to enslave you.- TriTech, on 03/26/2008, -0/+3Well said..
- 4d669, on 03/26/2008, -2/+11The terrorists won. America is no longer a democracy and we lost all our rights.
- j1ggy, on 03/26/2008, -0/+3What's the point in being patriotic and proud to be free if you stand by and let it all be taken away?
- SoxSweepAgain, on 03/26/2008, -0/+9Remember when we were proud to be Americans? You know, like, eight years ago? I do.
That was awesome.- offspring06, on 03/26/2008, -1/+1Back when people thought Bush was smart. 9/11 really did ***** with peoples common sense.
- TriTech, on 03/26/2008, -1/+1I think Bush would have attacked Iraq with or without 9/11. Too much money to be made for his and Cheney's buds.
- we.are.devo, on 03/26/2008, -1/+1ugh.
- Mise777, on 03/26/2008, -0/+2The Great Misnomer: "Patriot" Act.
- robbiemuffin, on 03/26/2008, -0/+1"But the Mountain View, Calif.-based company will not discuss how often government agencies demand access to its customers' information or whether content on its new Web-based collaborative tools has been the subject of any reviews under the Patriot Act."
I would imagine a Freedom of Information request could get this information. Google isn't the bad guys here though .. they're just the lucky guys who get to run on a spotless background and pretend everything is right with the world while they address everyone else's problems (excepting real ones — hey like any good business should really) ... kinda like Obama will be soon. - offspring06, on 03/26/2008, -0/+2With a name like "The Patriot Act" people should have been suspicious. Its bad when you have to tap into peoples patriotism to pass a bill.
- TriTech, on 03/26/2008, -0/+2We Americans don't trust our government; why should Canadians?
- rmxz, on 03/26/2008, -1/+1"The faculty was told not to transmit any private data over the system, including grades."
Use an encrypting email client.
These guys are a university - they should be able to figure that out.
And if they make it user friendly, create a valuable product for everyone.- shadowofapuddle, on 03/26/2008, -0/+2They are using Google Docs, Mail and Spreadsheets, encrypting it doesn't matter. The data still lives on Google's USA-based servers and is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act.
If Google put a datacenter in Canada, it might be able to get around these regulations.
- shadowofapuddle, on 03/26/2008, -0/+2They are using Google Docs, Mail and Spreadsheets, encrypting it doesn't matter. The data still lives on Google's USA-based servers and is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act.
- porkdanish, on 03/26/2008, -3/+1When charged particles of more than 5 TeV pass through a bubble chamber, they leave a trail of candy.
- Dr.Fade, on 03/26/2008, -0/+3"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
Thomas Jefferson - nusuni, on 03/26/2008, -1/+1I'm sure the president wants to look at your kid's grades. Yep, I'm sure he's looking at them right now.
- nidx, on 03/26/2008, -0/+0the same university that banned wifi is now too early of an adopter? wow do I love my old school
- miji2, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Keep in mind that the Canadian Census 2006 was outsourced to an American company (Lockheed, if memory serves me right) thus being subject to the same Patriot Act as any other email provider. Now compare the importance of your census data to your daily SPAM inbox. And that was done by the Canadian federal government. Can we get some perspective here? I bet you the same people who complain about Gmail for work are using or corresponding with Rogers/Yahoo or Sympatico/Hotmail at home without giving it a moment of thought.
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