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Comment by NoZebra120vClip | Hacker News Reader

That's maintained by your municipality, as they sift through the sewers looking for coronavirus levels.

I thought it was brilliant when I first heard about them measuring coronavirus levels through sewage. Honest question: what's your problem? Why are you mad about that?

Not the person you were responding to but there have been papers published examining the government using drug metabolites in waste water for targeted enforcement in Eastern Europe. In the US, that data is still gathered and hasn't been used for enforcement yet as far as I know, but like every other syrupy bit of data the US government sponges up, it will be used for enforcement eventually.

Enforcement of what exactly? Locking up half a city?

What's my problem? Am I mad? Where did I say that? The only people who are mad are the readers who downvoted me for pointing it out.

No municipality that is studying COVID levels in sewage is doing so in any way that could create or maintain a personal poop record. Moreover, using the phrase "sift through" - which is often used when discussing illegal or overbroad searches of personal documents or information - is obviously intended to give your reader a specific idea of how you think about those COVID studies.

Claiming ignorance of the very obvious subtext in your choice of words doesn't make your post come out in a better light. It makes you look like you're trying to avoid engaging in good faith.

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