Visibility Is Killing The Security State
The security agencies - the FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, DEA and others - have been benefited in recent years from the increasing visibility of the human population. But they never expected to become increasingly visible themselves. Eek. They just can't live that way.
The idea that data wants to be free never occurred to them.
Back around 1965, Gordon Moore of Intel noticed that every two years, the number of transistors that could be put in a chip doubled. Computing power was doubled. This two-year doubling rate has continued in a general way to this day. The recent fall in price of the USB flash drives (thumb), from two dollars a gigabyte to two gigabytes per dollar, was a stunning example, an adjustment where two doublings of efficiency occurred. What falls behind, catches up.
This makes owning data easier and easier. Twice as easy every two years. Stuff gets passed around. Stuff of interest goes further. Hot stuff goes viral.
Anything still secret in this world is a curiosity target. What are they hiding? The harder they hide it, the hotter it gets. The harder the security state hides what they're up to, the farther through the human world the knowledge of it moves.
The better the security state becomes known, the more clearly its former mistakes and crimes are seen. Yet they make mistakes even now.
In all probability, the security agencies are not yet preparing to adapt to the increasing visibility they will face over the next several decades. At five doublings a decade, visibility will increase 32 times over ten years. People I don't know will be emailing me, telling me to trim my toenails.
Us and them. They have toenails, too. And their toenails really need clipping.
The idea that data wants to be free never occurred to them.
Back around 1965, Gordon Moore of Intel noticed that every two years, the number of transistors that could be put in a chip doubled. Computing power was doubled. This two-year doubling rate has continued in a general way to this day. The recent fall in price of the USB flash drives (thumb), from two dollars a gigabyte to two gigabytes per dollar, was a stunning example, an adjustment where two doublings of efficiency occurred. What falls behind, catches up.
This makes owning data easier and easier. Twice as easy every two years. Stuff gets passed around. Stuff of interest goes further. Hot stuff goes viral.
Anything still secret in this world is a curiosity target. What are they hiding? The harder they hide it, the hotter it gets. The harder the security state hides what they're up to, the farther through the human world the knowledge of it moves.
The better the security state becomes known, the more clearly its former mistakes and crimes are seen. Yet they make mistakes even now.
In all probability, the security agencies are not yet preparing to adapt to the increasing visibility they will face over the next several decades. At five doublings a decade, visibility will increase 32 times over ten years. People I don't know will be emailing me, telling me to trim my toenails.
Us and them. They have toenails, too. And their toenails really need clipping.
posted by Dan McIntyre at 4:51 PM
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