Here’s a few pieces of info about the surveillance society in which we live. It’s been growing for many years. The pace of growth increases with new technology, and with the willingness of Government to partner with private industry to obtain access to data.

Under Bush, the pace of growth has increased, because Bush has apparently pointed the NSA toward the internal lives of Americans, and formed new partnerships with private data-collection companies.

Big Brother really is watching us. The electronic fingers of the Government computers are snaking their way through the massive databases of information retained by private companies, the the data are matched up by the Government to profile us and try to identify threats. Many people suspect the government to be “reading” our emails and monitoring our electronic transactions.

In my view, some form of electronic “watching” is irresistable to governments in any modern societies, for security purposes. We can’t stop it. Those who stand up for privacy will be labelled “terrorist enablers”.

So let’s regulate it and monitor it. No one is watching the watchers.

• See Your credit card payment might trigger a Homeland Security HOLD being placed on your payment - from a DailyKOS diary.

  In our first example, we see how credit card companies watch for you to payoff your balance, and if your payoff meets a certain threshhold, the credit card company reports you to Homeland Security. When Homeland Security runs you through its computers, and clears you of being a terrorist threat, then the credit card companies process your payment.

• Tim Russert exposed the Bush Administration’s partnerships with private sector data collection companies, and how the NSA mines the data to watch us - from BradBlog

  BradBlog says:

  Together, Risen and O’Harrow paint a picture of an enormous partnership between U.S. intelligence agencies and private data collection firms. Spying agencies like the NSA can leverage its’ massive computing power to mine data collected by these private firms. The result is a mind-boggling domestic surveillance capability with access to nearly any information imaginable. Phone calls, email, video as well as finicial, criminal and other personal records can all be searched at the same time. The NSA’s powerful computers can mine the data to find otherwise imperceptible links for profiling groups and individuals.

  Russert calls it a “sobering” discussion. The interview only scratches the surface of how extensive the scope of Big Brother’s monitoring of Americans may be. The surveillance programs are a dramatic departure from what the public has come to believe. It’s easy to see why the Bush Administration has avoided legislation and oversight.

• For just one one example of how Government data mining can be used for political purposes, see RadMod’s prior mention about data company Choicepoint. My article highlighted an allegation that Choicepoint company provided the names of individuals that Florida then struck from the voter roles in the 2000 election.