And then governments use this data, but can wash their hands of it saying "we didn't collect it"

> then governments use this data, but can wash their hands of it saying "we didn't collect it"

These are CMMS and HHS data. The government literally collected it. On government forms.

This thread is Exhibit A for how the tech-privacy community so often trips itself up. We have abuse of government data at hand. It’s clear. It’s sharp. Nobody denies the government has the data, how they got the data or how they’re using it.

So instead we go into parallel construction and advertising dragnets and a bunch of stuff that isn’t clear cut, isn’t relevant, but is someone’s bogeybear that has to be scratched.

Yes, retroactively manufactured cause for a warrant to find only the information you want.

Also, don't forget that profit maximization means selling to the highest bidder, which might not be US govt. Certainly, there is means, motive, and opportunity for individuals with access to sell this info to geopolitical adversaries, and it is BY FAR the easiest way for adversaries to acquire it.

It has happened before and it will happen again.

The ironic thing is that palantir has been operationalizating data gathered by the NSA and reselling as "ai targeting" to another country's military. But yes usually the loophole goes the other way.

Maybe what we're really seeing now though is the feedback loop, the information laundering industrial complex that is the surveillance economy.

"Allow us to use your data to improve our service." ...by selling your data to improve our service's profitability.