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Comment by fetbaffe | Hacker News Reader

Where have you been the past few weeks? The US government uses private business to track people.

Surely you're not suggesting that the government's secret tracking weapon is Google Analytics. The tracking that the government is doing is not going to be visible to or blockable by end users. But hey, if it makes you feel safe, use ghostery and clear your cookies every hour. There's no way they can track you then!

Illicit tracking by the government is a definite problem. I think that even in these times, you have to have your tinfoil hat on a little too tight to think that advertising cookies are the bogeyman here.

Did I say it was the only tracking method they use? Of course the US government also uses non-blocking techniques like wire tapping, snooping, hacking etc.

However, today Google has all the information about users that the US government can use as a good complement to an already vast spying organization.

Google has information about your emails, friends, search queries, page you visit, documents and files you store, clips you watch, medical records etc.

Are you telling me that the US government is not interested in this information and the reports of NSA plugging its system into private businesses was just a hoax?

Is the secret FISA hearings just tin foil bait?

I cannot speak for the OP, but it seems entirely clear to me that one of the government's secret tracking weapons is by acquiring access to data collected by facebook, google and every other US company out there.

Are you suggesting that this is not the case? that seems to me to be a remarkable conclusion to draw?

Surely you're not suggesting that the government and corporate interests are completely unrelated, and no money ever goes back and forth for good or services?

Wasn't it Google that optimized the NSA datacenters as early as 2005? I think its safe to assume that many of Google analytics' bigger customers are not corporate. Not to mention, of course, Google Earth which was developed with CIA money... but also needed some optimization (read, better developers). I am pretty sure that Google Earth was not a loss leader for the company ;)

I think that, amazingly in these times, you're sucking down your naivety cool aid a little too plaicidly to think that advertising cookies are not the optimal tracking method for both corp and govt.

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